I'm almost up-to-date! Yay!
Anyways . . . last night.
Dinner.
Beef stroganoff.
Left over beef and sauce filled a large tupperwear.
Joe left to cool on counter while we put the boys to bed.
Big mistake.
The End.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Monday, March 5th . . .
If you know me, you know I kinda go a little overboard on decorations for my boys birthday parties. Oh, who am I kidding, A LOT overboard and not just for birthday parties, but really any occasion.
Well, I had just finished making a few things for my baby's first birthday party coming up on the 17th. I put the finished items on the dining room table. Big mistake.
While we were upstairs, Neo decided that it'd be fun to take the items and basically destroy them. Shred them, bite them, rip them . . . anything he could do to make them un-usable.
I wasn't able to take a picture of the mess or the ruined items as I was so unbelievably furious that I literally had to leave my house. But I'm sure you can imagine the scene.
Well, I had just finished making a few things for my baby's first birthday party coming up on the 17th. I put the finished items on the dining room table. Big mistake.
While we were upstairs, Neo decided that it'd be fun to take the items and basically destroy them. Shred them, bite them, rip them . . . anything he could do to make them un-usable.
I wasn't able to take a picture of the mess or the ruined items as I was so unbelievably furious that I literally had to leave my house. But I'm sure you can imagine the scene.
Sunday, March 4th . . .
My mother came over to pick me up to do a little shopping. When she arrived she had a manilla envelope full of cell phone records. She wanted Joe to look through them to see when she could upgrade.
So mom and I left while Joe was still on the phone with Sprint. When I returned home that afternoon, I picked up the papers which were laying on the desk and put them back in the envelope and then safely placed it in the couple inches in between our microwave and the wall. Or so I thought.
When we returned home from grocery shopping that evening, this is what we found. . .
So mom and I left while Joe was still on the phone with Sprint. When I returned home that afternoon, I picked up the papers which were laying on the desk and put them back in the envelope and then safely placed it in the couple inches in between our microwave and the wall. Or so I thought.
When we returned home from grocery shopping that evening, this is what we found. . .
Awesome.
Hope mom didn't need any of that.
The end of February . . .
Today is March 7, 2012. I'm backtracking a little, just to get you up to speed on how we got to this point.
There are SO many instances I could tell you about. But then I'm afraid I'd never get up to date with this blog journal about Neo and Us.
I actually started jotting down things that he did the last week of February. He was 16 weeks old.
There are SO many instances I could tell you about. But then I'm afraid I'd never get up to date with this blog journal about Neo and Us.
I actually started jotting down things that he did the last week of February. He was 16 weeks old.
So . . . if you can't read my writing . . .
Thurs, Feb. 23rd - Ate 4 cupcakes. Can I just add that they were on the counter, freshly made for my son's birthday party and not only did I loose out on the 4, but I had to throw the entire two dozen away because I didn't want to chance that he licked them.
Saturday, Feb. 25th - Party day, jumped up on counter and ate entire bowl of white chocolate chex mix.
Sunday, Feb. 26th - Popped a balloon, then spent 15 minutes running away from me as I was trying to take the popped balloon from him.
Monday, Feb 27th - FIRST DAY OF PUPPY CLASS - Only one to whine, only one to jump on people
Tuesday, Feb. 28th - NOTHING (Thank God!)
Wednesday, Feb. 29th - I didn't write it down, but that was the day that he thought it'd be fun to take an empty box from zip lock bags and shred it to pieces all over the kitchen.
So at least we are to MARCH now. I'll start with this past Sunday . . .
So to sum it up . . .
So I'm working really hard to get you updated on our current situation. Especially since craziness is happening every day that I NEED to write about.
So to sum it up . . .
You heard the story of how this little puppy came to us. Well since then he has been a joy and a pain all rolled into one. More a pain than a joy, I have to say.
At 10 weeks old he had his ears done. Which was wonderful. Although the cone around his head didn't go over to hot with him. But all went well for the couple weeks he had the posts in and his ears stood right away!
So to sum it up . . .
You heard the story of how this little puppy came to us. Well since then he has been a joy and a pain all rolled into one. More a pain than a joy, I have to say.
At 10 weeks old he had his ears done. Which was wonderful. Although the cone around his head didn't go over to hot with him. But all went well for the couple weeks he had the posts in and his ears stood right away!
Then the fun really started.
It just seemed like he got more naughty. And as he got bigger, it just got worse.
He bites. Yes, its the puppy biting, but at what point does it stop?
He jumps up. On everything! People, counters, tables, doors . . .
He whines. All the time. Even with a full tummy, full bowl of food and right after returning from a walk.
He steels. Toys, shoes, bras, hats, clothes, paper . . . if its within his reach or he can find it, its his.
He destroys. I really hope he doesn't get ahold of anything valuable, because it'd be gone!
So there you have it. We were at our whits end with him and were "this" close (imagine me making an inch with my fingers) to finding him a new home. But . . . we don't like to give up that easy. And we're just praying that someday he'll be an amazing companion.
So we enrolled him in puppy kindergarten.
So here's hoping!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
A gift from "Heaven" . . .
The day that Joe was to go down to pick up our new little puppy was also the day we had had booked for our annual Polar Palooza Party.
It is held every year at our home. We invite all of our close friends with kiddos similar ages as our boys. Everyone brings a dish to pass and a gift for the kiddos to exchange. Santa ALWAYS makes an appearance which is always the highlight of the evening. This event is something that my boys, as well as all our friends' children, look forward to every year!
We had a plan.
Joe was going to time it out so that he would bring the puppy home just before the party. Santa was to arrive soon after.
So after Santa made his grand appearance and handed out the gifts, he stepped outside to grab one more thing from his sleigh. When he walked back into our house, his bag in hand, he asked for my boys.
"Where's Madden & Maxim? I have a little gift for you."
The boys walked cautiously over to Santa and stared up at him with bewildered eyes.
"I made a short stop on my way here. It was to Heaven. And when I was there I talked to Blitz. He asked me to give this to you."
Santa then pulled out a tiny puppy from his bag with a big white bow tied around his neck. On the bow was a tag that read . . .
Dear Family,
Please don't be sad.
I am very happy here in heaven.
I get to fly around and eat steak every day.
This is Neo, he is my puppy.
I am sending him to take care of you.
I miss you.
Love, Blitz
It is held every year at our home. We invite all of our close friends with kiddos similar ages as our boys. Everyone brings a dish to pass and a gift for the kiddos to exchange. Santa ALWAYS makes an appearance which is always the highlight of the evening. This event is something that my boys, as well as all our friends' children, look forward to every year!
We had a plan.
Joe was going to time it out so that he would bring the puppy home just before the party. Santa was to arrive soon after.
So after Santa made his grand appearance and handed out the gifts, he stepped outside to grab one more thing from his sleigh. When he walked back into our house, his bag in hand, he asked for my boys.
"Where's Madden & Maxim? I have a little gift for you."
The boys walked cautiously over to Santa and stared up at him with bewildered eyes.
"I made a short stop on my way here. It was to Heaven. And when I was there I talked to Blitz. He asked me to give this to you."
Santa then pulled out a tiny puppy from his bag with a big white bow tied around his neck. On the bow was a tag that read . . .
Dear Family,
Please don't be sad.
I am very happy here in heaven.
I get to fly around and eat steak every day.
This is Neo, he is my puppy.
I am sending him to take care of you.
I miss you.
Love, Blitz
Which brings us to . . .
So now that you know our entire history with dogs, let me catch you up to speed on our current "situation".
A couple days after Blitz was killed we contacted the breeding in which we got him from to tell her what had happened. As you can imagine she was also heartbroken. Even though it SO soon after our loss, we did inquire about puppies she may have for sale OR upcoming litters. We were bummed to find out that she didn't have any and wasn't planning a breeding until the spring.
But . . .
She had studded out Blitz's dad to another breeder and she had puppies available! So we got her contact info and sat down to discuss. So many things were going through our head. "Do we want a new puppy? So soon? Should we wait 'till the spring when the weather is nicer? But it IS Blitz's blood. . . would we regret waiting? It wouldn't hurt to call her . . ."
So we called . . .
We talked.
Photos were exchanged . . .
Everything was falling into place. NOTE: A good breeder will be concerned about where you live and how the puppy will be cared for. They will either want to come to your home OR at least have photos of your home to ensure the puppy is going to a good place. So we were not at all surprised to have to send photos of our house, yard and family. We then received a few photos of the available red/rust males she had available. They were so cute. With their big floppy ears. {Yes, if you didn't know, dobermans are born with LONG tales and floppy ears}
The conversation in choosing our puppy went something like this . . .
Breeder: "Which one would you like?"
Joe: "Oh, I don't know, they both look the same. Are they different in size?"
Breeder: "Nope, both about the same."
Joe: "Ok . . . well . . . give us whichever one seems more lively and active."
Breeder: "Ok, sounds good!"
So there you have it. We had chosen our puppy. The more "lively and active" one. Great.
Arrangements to meet were set up.
The boys didn't know yet . . . Joe and I were excited!
A couple days after Blitz was killed we contacted the breeding in which we got him from to tell her what had happened. As you can imagine she was also heartbroken. Even though it SO soon after our loss, we did inquire about puppies she may have for sale OR upcoming litters. We were bummed to find out that she didn't have any and wasn't planning a breeding until the spring.
But . . .
She had studded out Blitz's dad to another breeder and she had puppies available! So we got her contact info and sat down to discuss. So many things were going through our head. "Do we want a new puppy? So soon? Should we wait 'till the spring when the weather is nicer? But it IS Blitz's blood. . . would we regret waiting? It wouldn't hurt to call her . . ."
So we called . . .
We talked.
Photos were exchanged . . .
Everything was falling into place. NOTE: A good breeder will be concerned about where you live and how the puppy will be cared for. They will either want to come to your home OR at least have photos of your home to ensure the puppy is going to a good place. So we were not at all surprised to have to send photos of our house, yard and family. We then received a few photos of the available red/rust males she had available. They were so cute. With their big floppy ears. {Yes, if you didn't know, dobermans are born with LONG tales and floppy ears}
The conversation in choosing our puppy went something like this . . .
Breeder: "Which one would you like?"
Joe: "Oh, I don't know, they both look the same. Are they different in size?"
Breeder: "Nope, both about the same."
Joe: "Ok . . . well . . . give us whichever one seems more lively and active."
Breeder: "Ok, sounds good!"
So there you have it. We had chosen our puppy. The more "lively and active" one. Great.
Arrangements to meet were set up.
The boys didn't know yet . . . Joe and I were excited!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Back-story
Our love for dobermans started way back when my husband {his name is Joe} and I were dating. We used to spend a couple nights a year curled up on the couch, popcorn in hand watching the professional dog shows on tv. We'd make little bets on who was going to win, and acted like we knew everything about every breed that was shown.
Yeah, we were really cool.
Of course we had our favorites.
Mine . . . Pomeranian, Weimeraraner, French Bulldog.
His . . . English Bulldog, American Staffordshire Terrier.
But nothing compared to the regal stature and grace of the Doberman Pinscher.
So here we were. In love with a breed that neither one of us knew anything about. But right then, we knew that we HAD to have a doberman some day. Whether it was that year or 20 years down the road, it would happen. Granted, at that point in our relationship, we didn't even know if we'd be together in 20 years, but if we were, a doberman was in our plans.
Well, here we are. Eight years, three apartments, two houses, seven vehicles, three career changes, two kitchen renovations, six wedding anniversaries, three sons and SIX dogs later. We're not quite to 20 years yet, but we're on our way.
So back to the doberman that we so very much wanted.
Not sure if you were shocked or not when reading, but I did say "SIX" dogs. We don't have six dogs. We have HAD six dogs. Lets just say we've had some bad luck with dogs.
So here we go . . .
The first {Wrigley}: The Demon
A little black and white pit bull terrier. Obviously, Joe's choice. I re-named him the "Demon Dog". Why? Well, that's what he was. Although he was probably a wopping 8 lbs, he was a demon! The dog NEVER and I do mean NEVER stopped biting. Which was horrible for our oldest son {his name is Madden} at the time our only son at age one and a half. Wrigley was with us for a grand total of THREE days before I couldn't take it anymore and my husband found him a much more suitable home.
The second {Polo}: The one that got away
After our experience with the demon dog, having a dog was far down my priority list at this point. However, I let my husband talk me into driving out to some little country town called Clintonville to meet a guy with a puppy. The ONLY reason that I agreed to go . . . it was a doberman.
Now, not a pure bred doberman. He was 12 weeks old, tail was still long and ears were natural. But he was a beautiful chocolate and rust color with all the doberman markings. Apparently there was some chocolate lab in his blood line somewhere. But we couldn't say no to that adorable doberman face!
Polo was brilliant. House trained in days. Basic commands took minutes. We did have his tail docked but kept his ears natural. He was a big boy at 80 lbs at only 8 months old. Great with our son. We couldn't have asked for a better dog.
But at the end of my pregnancy with our second son {his name is Maxim} I had a hormonal melt down. My pregnancies were not easy ones. In and out of the hospital in active labor the last couple months. After coming home from a three day stay, I woke up the next morning to find dog pee EVERYWHERE! Seriously! It seemed like he had not peed in days, there was so much. Well, I lost it. Screamed and cried and told Joe to get him out. Find him a home. I was done.
And I regret it every day.
The third {Onyx}: Houdini
The following Christmas a friend of mine decided to get her daughter a puppy for Christmas. She was looking at multi-poos. So in searching for these little "fu fu" dogs, as I call them, I happened upon some Pomeranian puppies for sale. Now, if you remember, the Poms were always one of my favorites when watching the dog shows. So I convinced my husband to "allow" me to have one.
On Christmas Eve I brought home a dark gray ball of fluff. At around 2 lbs, she was tiny little thing. But smart. Oh so smart! The second night she was in our house, she not only managed to jump out of a three foot high box, climb one flight of stairs (which she really didn't know how) climb a second flight of HARDWOOD stairs, and scampered into our bedroom at 3:00 am. She could escape from anything!
We had Onyx for over a year and a half, within which she was no long gray but gold, when we went away for the weekend. We let some of our friends watch her at their home. They have two daughters who spoiled Onyx to death and I just didn't have the heart to take her back. She was so much more happy with two little girls rather than my two crazy boys. And we still get to see her from time to time which is great!
The fourth {Hero}: The Cowardly Lion
So Onyx had joined our family at Christmas. Well, that spring I went out with the girls one night. All of a sudden I get a photo message on my phone of a little golden puppy sitting on a deck.
Cute.
But wait . . . that little golden puppy is sitting on OUR deck!
Well, Joe had decided that the boys needed a BOY dog. Apparently Onyx wasn't good enough for them. So Joe, loving those Amstaffs, went out and got one. Lovely.
It took us a few days to agree on a name for this golden boy. We finally decided on Hero, which is funny, because as time went on, his name didn't fit him AT all! He was the biggest coward there was. Afraid of his own shadow. But a good dog. And great with my boys. And in LOVE with miss Onyx.
When Hero was six months old we discovered that he had a liver disorder. He would have to be put on medication that could cause neurological problems, meaning he could possibly snap and bite at any time. Well, obviously we can't have a dog like that around crazy little boys. So it was a sad day for us to surrender him to Bully Breed rescue where he would get the medical help he would need to live a normal life and have foster parents, without children.
I have to admit that it wasn't as hard for me to say good-bye to Hero as it was for Joe. He truly wasn't really ever MY dog. I didn't have that warm spot in my heart for him. Now if he'd of been a doberman, it would have been a different story.
The fifth {Blitz}: The prodigy
Our vet at the time came to us shortly after we had to give up Hero and asked if we'd be interested in getting another puppy. One of her best friends just happened to be a doberman breeder down in Indiana and she just happened to have puppies for sale.
But here's the best part . . .
She is willing to GIVE us one. Yes, give, as in FREE. As so many people were affected by the crappy economy, dog breeders were as well. And she was having a really hard time selling her pure bred $1200 price tag doberman puppies. (Can't imagine why) So rather than lower her price and risk that the puppies get bought by "not so nice" people, she decided to give us one. We obviously had the vet reference. We had to send her pictures of our house, family and fully fenced in yard. And we had to sign a no breeding/showing agreement. DONE!
Joe and I drove down and picked up the most adorable puppy I had ever seen. A little red/rust boy. Tail docked, floppy ears. Adorable! We named him Blitz. Well, Blitz Von Heisman to be exact.
Shortly after bringing him home, we had his ears done and finally felt like we had found "the one". He was perfect. Smart. Fun. Obedient. Beautiful. The whole package. We couldn't have asked for a better dog. Plus, he was a doberman, so we were in heaven.
Then one night, a couple weeks before Christmas, a tragedy happened. Blitz suddenly bolted into the street and was hit by a car. The driver asked if he was in trouble and when Joe, who had been there to witness the whole incident, didn't reply, he drove away leaving our extremely injured dog behind.
Blitz died within 10 minutes of being hit. It was devastating for our family.
I took it the hardest, I think. You don't realize how much they mean to you until they are gone. In fact, I'm still getting over the loss. I still feel like I should look over and see him laying in his bed in it's normal spot. I miss him . . . a lot.
Which brings us a little closer to date.
Yeah, we were really cool.
Of course we had our favorites.
Mine . . . Pomeranian, Weimeraraner, French Bulldog.
His . . . English Bulldog, American Staffordshire Terrier.
But nothing compared to the regal stature and grace of the Doberman Pinscher.
So here we were. In love with a breed that neither one of us knew anything about. But right then, we knew that we HAD to have a doberman some day. Whether it was that year or 20 years down the road, it would happen. Granted, at that point in our relationship, we didn't even know if we'd be together in 20 years, but if we were, a doberman was in our plans.
Well, here we are. Eight years, three apartments, two houses, seven vehicles, three career changes, two kitchen renovations, six wedding anniversaries, three sons and SIX dogs later. We're not quite to 20 years yet, but we're on our way.
So back to the doberman that we so very much wanted.
Not sure if you were shocked or not when reading, but I did say "SIX" dogs. We don't have six dogs. We have HAD six dogs. Lets just say we've had some bad luck with dogs.
So here we go . . .
The first {Wrigley}: The Demon
A little black and white pit bull terrier. Obviously, Joe's choice. I re-named him the "Demon Dog". Why? Well, that's what he was. Although he was probably a wopping 8 lbs, he was a demon! The dog NEVER and I do mean NEVER stopped biting. Which was horrible for our oldest son {his name is Madden} at the time our only son at age one and a half. Wrigley was with us for a grand total of THREE days before I couldn't take it anymore and my husband found him a much more suitable home.
The second {Polo}: The one that got away
After our experience with the demon dog, having a dog was far down my priority list at this point. However, I let my husband talk me into driving out to some little country town called Clintonville to meet a guy with a puppy. The ONLY reason that I agreed to go . . . it was a doberman.
Now, not a pure bred doberman. He was 12 weeks old, tail was still long and ears were natural. But he was a beautiful chocolate and rust color with all the doberman markings. Apparently there was some chocolate lab in his blood line somewhere. But we couldn't say no to that adorable doberman face!
Polo was brilliant. House trained in days. Basic commands took minutes. We did have his tail docked but kept his ears natural. He was a big boy at 80 lbs at only 8 months old. Great with our son. We couldn't have asked for a better dog.
But at the end of my pregnancy with our second son {his name is Maxim} I had a hormonal melt down. My pregnancies were not easy ones. In and out of the hospital in active labor the last couple months. After coming home from a three day stay, I woke up the next morning to find dog pee EVERYWHERE! Seriously! It seemed like he had not peed in days, there was so much. Well, I lost it. Screamed and cried and told Joe to get him out. Find him a home. I was done.
And I regret it every day.
The third {Onyx}: Houdini
The following Christmas a friend of mine decided to get her daughter a puppy for Christmas. She was looking at multi-poos. So in searching for these little "fu fu" dogs, as I call them, I happened upon some Pomeranian puppies for sale. Now, if you remember, the Poms were always one of my favorites when watching the dog shows. So I convinced my husband to "allow" me to have one.
On Christmas Eve I brought home a dark gray ball of fluff. At around 2 lbs, she was tiny little thing. But smart. Oh so smart! The second night she was in our house, she not only managed to jump out of a three foot high box, climb one flight of stairs (which she really didn't know how) climb a second flight of HARDWOOD stairs, and scampered into our bedroom at 3:00 am. She could escape from anything!
We had Onyx for over a year and a half, within which she was no long gray but gold, when we went away for the weekend. We let some of our friends watch her at their home. They have two daughters who spoiled Onyx to death and I just didn't have the heart to take her back. She was so much more happy with two little girls rather than my two crazy boys. And we still get to see her from time to time which is great!
The fourth {Hero}: The Cowardly Lion
So Onyx had joined our family at Christmas. Well, that spring I went out with the girls one night. All of a sudden I get a photo message on my phone of a little golden puppy sitting on a deck.
Cute.
But wait . . . that little golden puppy is sitting on OUR deck!
Well, Joe had decided that the boys needed a BOY dog. Apparently Onyx wasn't good enough for them. So Joe, loving those Amstaffs, went out and got one. Lovely.
It took us a few days to agree on a name for this golden boy. We finally decided on Hero, which is funny, because as time went on, his name didn't fit him AT all! He was the biggest coward there was. Afraid of his own shadow. But a good dog. And great with my boys. And in LOVE with miss Onyx.
When Hero was six months old we discovered that he had a liver disorder. He would have to be put on medication that could cause neurological problems, meaning he could possibly snap and bite at any time. Well, obviously we can't have a dog like that around crazy little boys. So it was a sad day for us to surrender him to Bully Breed rescue where he would get the medical help he would need to live a normal life and have foster parents, without children.
I have to admit that it wasn't as hard for me to say good-bye to Hero as it was for Joe. He truly wasn't really ever MY dog. I didn't have that warm spot in my heart for him. Now if he'd of been a doberman, it would have been a different story.
The fifth {Blitz}: The prodigy
Our vet at the time came to us shortly after we had to give up Hero and asked if we'd be interested in getting another puppy. One of her best friends just happened to be a doberman breeder down in Indiana and she just happened to have puppies for sale.
But here's the best part . . .
She is willing to GIVE us one. Yes, give, as in FREE. As so many people were affected by the crappy economy, dog breeders were as well. And she was having a really hard time selling her pure bred $1200 price tag doberman puppies. (Can't imagine why) So rather than lower her price and risk that the puppies get bought by "not so nice" people, she decided to give us one. We obviously had the vet reference. We had to send her pictures of our house, family and fully fenced in yard. And we had to sign a no breeding/showing agreement. DONE!
Joe and I drove down and picked up the most adorable puppy I had ever seen. A little red/rust boy. Tail docked, floppy ears. Adorable! We named him Blitz. Well, Blitz Von Heisman to be exact.
Shortly after bringing him home, we had his ears done and finally felt like we had found "the one". He was perfect. Smart. Fun. Obedient. Beautiful. The whole package. We couldn't have asked for a better dog. Plus, he was a doberman, so we were in heaven.
Then one night, a couple weeks before Christmas, a tragedy happened. Blitz suddenly bolted into the street and was hit by a car. The driver asked if he was in trouble and when Joe, who had been there to witness the whole incident, didn't reply, he drove away leaving our extremely injured dog behind.
Blitz died within 10 minutes of being hit. It was devastating for our family.
I took it the hardest, I think. You don't realize how much they mean to you until they are gone. In fact, I'm still getting over the loss. I still feel like I should look over and see him laying in his bed in it's normal spot. I miss him . . . a lot.
Which brings us a little closer to date.
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