Thank you Dogs With Blogs!

Keeley and I just want to say thank you to all you DWBs out there that sent Keeley holiday cards. Our mailman said, "Keeley sure gets a lot of mail!" This was our first time participating in the exchange and I was a little surprised by the enormity of it. I made a few mistakes, like sending cards to a couple of dogs twice and completely forgetting about the email-only dogs (sorry!). I promise to do better next year!

THANK YOU (in no particular order): Ezzy & Jag, Lele & Tris, Tofu-Burger, Rudy, Josie, Emory, and Clancy, Powder-Puff & Ivy, Cubby & Dakota, Ralph, Homer, Bruce & Lois, Holly, Abby, Kona, Monty, and Samuel, Sherman, Penny, and Lola, Frankie & Maddie, Mary-Margaret, Sparky & Patches, Chewie & Le Mops, Nugget, Ozzy, and Stewy, Steve & Kat, Snickers, Annabelle, and Boomer, Charlie, Crikit, Sparky, and Ginger, Butchy & Snickers, Ruby & Michele, Franki V, Harry & Cassidy, BT & Fergie, Kirby, Lacylulu, Roxie, Sammy, and Andy, Molly & Taffy, Arabella, Eddie, Peaches, Bella, and Lady, Bentley & Niko, Lorenza, Stanley & Stella, Simon, Scarlett, and Shelly, Maya-Marie & Missy, Seadra & Zoe, Murphey & Reilly, Alkie, Royal, and Brock, Noah, Willow, Tess, and Lucy, Maggie & Mitch, Waylon & Willie, Roy & Gwen, Putter, Cairo, Bailey, Baxter, Brody, and Benson, Jackson, Moxie & Izzie, Sky, Canyon, and Kelsey Ann, Katie, Sam, and Zorra, Chloe, Ricky, Sophie, Lucy, and Teddy, Asta, Girasol, Randi, T-Man, Lenny, Tasha & Eva, Liza & Dory, Sitka & Tia, Comet & BLU, Ozzie & Rocky, Pearly, Chili, Mikki, Cracker, and Bama, Joey & Tanner, Frankie Doodles, Amici, Jake & Just Harry, Gussie, Charlie & Opy, Tucker-Doodle, Thrawn, Dot-Spot, Samantha, and Bear, The Canino's, Hammer, Hobson, Rose, Khomet, and Charlamayne. THANK YOU ALL!

Today at Minooka

Keeley was still very tired from last night. We just took him out to Minooka for a quick romp in the snow before it got dark out. My camera batteries died right after this picture.

Keeley visits his cousin dog, Tully

Morning Walk

This morning we went for a walk at Lake Park with Unkie Rob.
We had another snow storm yesterday.
Keeley had to check his pee-mail.
Guess what this silly pup is barking at...
That's right, he was protecting me from a stone lion. What a weirdo!
Keeley found a stick.
We went past this lighthouse that is being restored.
And we discovered this tree that had recently fallen down.

Playing with Unkie Rob

December Update

This month has been so busy for me. There's been so much to do with getting ready for Xmas and so much snow shoveling that needed to be done. I've been very busy at work too. I've really fallen behind on my blogging and on my blog reading. I was hoping to catch up on things over the holiday but it's already late and I've got to go back to work tomorrow so it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Here's a quick update about a few things that have been going on that are Keeley related.

Thank you everyone who told me what their experiences with more than one dog have been and to everyone else who gave me their opinion too. My mom said to me that she thought that maybe I should not get a second dog because if I didn't know what I wanted that it must mean that I don't really want one. See with Keeley, I was dead set on getting a male Irish Terrier and no one could convince me otherwise and believe me they tried. So now she thought since I was conflicted, that maybe I didn't really want another dog. However that's not true. I was just struggling with wanting to please everyone and get what's best for Keeley. My mom really wants another Irish and perferably a female and we were told by a lot of people that you shouldn't have two dogs of the same sex. That's why I had agreed to getting a female Irish Terrier and I kept saying that she was going to be "for Keeley" and the reason I was going to get a second dog was "for Keeley" because it I really didn't feel that it was for me since it's not what I wanted. Finally my mom said to me "The only reason that anyone should have another baby, or fur-baby in this case, is because they WANT one." That made a lot of sense to me and so I told her that what I really wanted was a male Border Terrier, which is what I originally said a year ago before all this not two dogs of the same sex nonsense. So she found a nearby breeder and we went for a visit. They are super cute dogs, but they are really jumpy, really high energy, and really licky. (FYI, Keeley doesn't lick, mostly he just bumps me with his nose to show affection.) I went home and thought about it for the night and finally decided that I'd just get another male Irish Terrier instead. It's the constant licking that really turned me off from the Border Terrier. I feel good now that things are decided. If all goes well, Keeley will get his new little brother sometime in spring 2008.

Here's a picture of Keeley's grandma posing him at the table with his cup of yogurt and cheerios. Are we taking this fur-child thing a little too far? She thought he wanted to be included but I don't think dogs were made to sit at the table.

Keeley's Unkie Rob and his girlfriend, Amanda, are in town visiting. They live in NYC. Keeley loves Unkie Rob. They really have a good time together and Keeley just loves having people over. I'll try to add some pictures of them playing together tomorrow. Right now it's getting late and Keeley is looking like he wants to go downstairs to go to bed. Here's one more photo of Keeley posing with his new pups. Good night!

Merry Christmas!

In our family, we open our gifts on Christmas Eve. Keeley got a lot of good stuff this year. From Jane, Molly, and Kate he got a rawhide bone (of which, only half is left). From Palina he got 2 beef stew flavored tennis balls. Keeley usually does not destroy his toys but they must have really tasted good because they only lasted about 35 minutes. From his Unkie Rob he got peanut butter flavored dog biscuits from Whole Foods. From me he got 2 stuffed animal dogs, a Boston Terrier and a Wire Fox Terrier. I did surgery on them in advance to insert squeakers. Here's a picture of Keeley posing with them.From me he also got the Firehouse Dog DVD, a Rip-Apart Watermelon, and some Christmas dog cookies with yogurt frosting. Pretty good haul for a little pup, I think.
It has been such a busy month. I will try to post more later to let you all know what we've been up to. Keeley and I hope the rest of you pups had (or are having) a great holiday too.

Dilemma

I've got a dilemma. Perhaps you, my blogging pals, could give me some advice?
When I realized that Keeley had turned me into a dog person, I was already thinking about getting a second dog. I thought a good playmate for Keeley would be a little brother Border Terrier. But all these people said to me that I shouldn't have 2 male terriers because they'd constantly fight over who was top dog. They told me that I needed to get a female dog instead.
For some reason, I just didn't want a female dog. But I'm not one for conflict and so eventually I agreed to get a female Irish Terrier for Keeley when he turns two (Keeley's grandma really wanted another Irish Terrier). His breeder only has one litter a year and I've already told her that I want a girl in spring. I've even picked a name for her, Teagan, which is a Welsh name meaning beautiful (Keeley is a Gaelic name meaning handsome). It's been several months and I've gotten quite used to the idea of getting a little sister for Keeley.
However, now some people are saying that I shouldn't get a female dog because Keeley will be too over protective of her or possessive of her. They're worried about how Keeley would act towards other dogs at the dog park and at daycare when he's got this little sis to protect. I'm told that an older female with a younger male would be okay, but not the other way around. Also a concern is how a girl dog added to the mix would affect things between Keeley and his best bud, Romare, the giant Airedale.
So now I don't know what to do. I asked Keeley what he thought of it all and he told me that he didn't care one way or another, just as long as I get him another dog soon. I've got a lot to think about and I'd love to hear your opinions on all this.

I'm tagging us myself!

Since I've been spending all my free time shoveling, I've fallen quiet behind on my blog reading. I'm starting to get caught up and noticed lots of dogs out there listing their 7 greatest annoyances. Keeley hasn't officially been tagged, but we're going to do it anyways. Here goes:

1. Keeley is annoyed by people touching his feet and he really hates having his toe nails cut. He barks, yelps, whines, cries, squirms, snarls, and snaps. It's a terrible ordeal. I pay other people to do it for me.

2. Keeley hates anything on wheels, such as: bikes, skateboards, motorcycles, buses, trucks, scooters, inline skates, lawn mowers, garbage dumpsters, coolers, suitcases, wagons, shopping carts, strollers, hospital beds, wheelchairs, cleaning carts, mop buckets, tricycles, vacuum cleaners, etc.

3. Squirrels. Keeley always shoots me this look that says, "Damnit, Erin! I could have caught those guys if I didn't always have to drag you behind me!" Yeah, so that annoys him. And he gets really annoyed by the fact that he can't figure out how to climb the tree to go after the squirrels. He does try though.

4. Keeley does not like to be humped by other dogs. It's so rude! His eyes get wide with shock ("How dare he!") and then rage. Keeley does this little twisty maneuver to shake the other dog off and then he usually bites their face.

5. Too much bass. We used to have a neighbor that would pull into their drive way with their stereo blasting. The bass would be up so loud that it would make our whole house shake. The first time it happened while I was home, I thought we were having an earthquake. Keeley really hated this.

6. Keeley is annoyed by anything being out of place. He barks at anything that he thinks is in the wrong place or doesn't belong. It really ticks him off when the furniture gets rearranged.

7. The thing that Keeley finds most annoying of all, is when humans won't share with him what they're eating. He tries his best to be patient, first he sits and waits about a minute or two. Then he tries laying down. If that doesn't work, then he starts to get a little impatient and starts bumping the person with his nose. Then he'll whine a little. If that doesn't work, then he'll jump up on that person. And if they still don't acknowledge him and give him a piece of food, then he'll start to bark an angry sort of bark.

This is for you, Noah, Willow, Tess, and Lucy!

You asked if I ever get sick of shoveling snow and the answer is YES! Once or twice a week is okay and it's good exercise... but shoveling once or twice a day really sucks! It snowed 2 or 3 inches this morning before I went to work. And then it snowed another 3 to 5 inches in the afternoon. I'm running out of places to put it! We've got this long and narrow driveway and there's really not much room to pile it up on the sides. I end up having to shovel some of it into Keeley's yard. If this keeps up, pretty soon there won't be much point to having a fence, the snow will be piled so high that Keeley could just jump over it.