Good morning, everyone, and happy Thursday! 

The weekend is almost upon us and, for my family, it's a special weekend.  Ellie's 3rd birthday is on Saturday!  We don't have anything particularly special planned, but I hope to continue my tradition of making a special treat for her and Yuki to enjoy.  She certainly has no idea why she receives these treats, of course, but that doesn't stop her from bolting them down as fast as she can every year!

Whilst perusing…

Just a cute post to fuel everyone through the day!  :)  The images have probably long since made their rounds on the 'net, but I felt they were cute enough to repost (even if it's for the thousandth time!)  Hope they give at least a few of you a chuckle and help to brighten your Wednesday.  The weekend is coming!…

Happy birthday, Ellie!

My little Ellie-girl is 1 year old today and I can't believe how fast it all went by.  It seems like just a few months ago I was eagerly awaiting pictures of her from the breeder.  Now she's a whole year old and getting bigger all the time!  She's such an important part of our family and I am so happy that we brought her into our lives.  :)

No birthday is complete without some sort of celebration, so I planned some fun for Ellie and…

It seems we've skipped spring here in New York.  We had spring-like temperatures for about one week before skipping right on to summer!  The temperature has been between 75 and 80 for the past week and Ellie has been enjoying every last minute of it.  We've been going out for daily walks and she loves meeting new people every day (though she wonders why none of them stop to pet her!)  She has become quite fond of a really tiny park near us and gets very excited once she notices we're walking…

Ellie and I have been thoroughly enjoying the warm weather.  This is her first spring, but Yuki definitely knows that it's much warmer than usual for this time of the year.  As a result, Ellie and I have been going for 1-2 mile walks each morning.  Ellie knows that when she sees me get the baby stroller that it means she's going to be going for a walk!  She shakes and whimpers with excitement as she waits for me to get the leash and is all smiles when I finally open the door.…

I think that winter may officially be over where I live.  It was an incredibly mild here this year, more mild than I can ever remember it being, and I'm a little sad that we didn't have any big snowfalls.  Now that it has started to really warm up, though, I find myself anxious for Spring to begin.  I've heard robins chirping outside, though I have yet to see one, so I'm sure it won't be long now.  The dogs have been more energetic, too, and I know they'll enjoy resuming their daily…

Here in New York, winter usually arrives around the end of October or the beginning of November.  This year, much like the rest of the country, the weather was a little weird and we didn't get any snow accumulation until the middle of January!  We had a few flurries in December, but the snow never stayed more than 24 hours.

Since winter has finally begun, I decided that I should give the dogs their last bath before the muddy mess known as spring.  The dogs…

Hopefully you all had a great time over the holidays!  We had lots of fun here on Christmas and all of us enjoyed our gifts.  :)  This was Ellie's very first Christmas and I think she'll be looking forward to it again next year!

6:50 am on Christmas morning.  Also known as "the calm before the…

The "official" countdown to Christmas (for me) began last weekend.  Having my birthday exactly 2 weeks before Christmas means that all of our Christmas activity really begins on my birthday.  I hung our stockings over the fireplace (I always wanted to do that when I was a little girl, but my mom's house didn't have a fireplace.)  I dusted off the mantle decorations, since they had been out since Thanksgiving.  I strung lights along the bushes outside (and discovered that two strands don't…

When Yuki turned 2 years old, he started to change.  Nothing drastic, but a subtle and on-going change.  He started becoming less interested in play.  His nose started changing from black to a pink/fleshy color.  He started to put on weight, though his diet hadn't changed.  I mentioned all of this to his Vet, and after an exam I was told that he was just an "adult" now and he had just calmed down out of his puppy stage.  The nose change was explained as being just something that happens,…

My neighbors have been telling me for months that there's a dog park "just down the road" from where I live.  I've had mixed feelings about taking my dogs to a dog park.  I've heard so many horror stories about dog parks, from dogs snapping and attacking others to owners who just let their dogs do whatever they want.  I've heard plenty of happy stories, too, but the bad ones always seem to be the ones that stick with me.  Despite this, however, I felt that it was time to try to find this…

Little Miss Ellie went in for her spay on the 17th.  What a trooper she's been!  She was her usual self from the moment she returned home (the Vet kept her overnight for observation, which is standard practice at their office) and was as playful as always.  I, on the other hand, was a total wreck about it last week. 

I knew she wasn't in pain and all would be well, but I felt absolutely horrible about keeping her confined to her crate nearly all day long.  Why not…

I finally have my new laptop (yay!), so I'm once again able to browse the 'net and admire all of the corgis here.  Hopefully I'll be able to blog more regularly again, and upload some shots of the ever-growing little pupster!

Ellie is just up over 10 lbs. now and is 20 weeks old.  She goes in for her spay and microchip this next week and then it's a couple of weeks recovery and off to puppy classes!  I had wanted to start classes already, but her shot schedule was a little…

It's been awhile since my last blog post!  My laptop decided to burn out (literally!) and I don't often have time to boot up the 'ol desktop system.  Luckily, I'll be getting a new one soon!

My little Ellie girl is growing fast!  She's up to 10 lbs. already (averaging about a 1 lb. gain each week) and is just a little bundle of energy.  She has learned how to sit, lie down and shake.  She has one more booster shot to go before she's finally done for the year (I think!) and…

Yesterday was Yuki's 3rd birthday.  We didn't do much that was special (mostly because I was too busy with family responsibilities), but I did prepare a special birthday meal.  The meal changes from year to year.  The first year he had boiled hamburger and rice and he loved it.  Last year he had apple slices and cottage cheese and he gobbled it up like it was ambrosia.  This year, I decided that he deserved some red meat.  So I cooked up a beef roast (plain, so as not to…

Ellie's AKC registration form has finally arrived in the mail (yay!) and it's, thankfully, not as complicated as I thought it would be.  The only area that I'm slightly unsure of is the Limited Registration area.  It says that the box should be completely darkened for Limited Registration, but all I see is a number in the box.  I'm assuming that means that it will, indeed, be Limited and the box isn't supposed to be colored in.  Not that it matters, since I'll be having her spayed in a…

Ellie has been with us for almost 2 weeks now (it feels more like 3 days!) and I can't imagine life without her!  She brings so much joy to our lives, both human and canine alike.  She greets me every morning with her bunny nub wiggling a million miles per minute.  She gets Yuki to play at least 3-4 times per day (which is beyond fantastic since he usually refuses to play!)  And I love the funny sleeping poses, the cuddles and the puppy kisses.

She has started showing us some…

Ellie has settled in quite well here and has started opening up more.  She chases Yuki, chews the rug, tries to drag off the children's stuffed animals and lavishes us with her puppy-breath-scented kisses.  I'm working on teaching her what she can and cannot chew (lots of "no", redirecting to puppy toys and the occasional yelping noise are working great) and I am also working on teaching her how to sit and to come when called.  I also make sure to give Yuki lots of attention so that he…

Today was finally the big day!  Despite a changed flight and a delayed arrival, our little Ellie is finally here!  I was so worried that she would be stressed and exhausted after her trip here, but she has been just perfect!  She didn't bark or whine on the way home, just sat in my lap and enjoyed the scenery.  After getting home she had all sorts of fun exploring our kitchen and climbing all over us.

 …

My little girl is working her magic already, and she's not even here with us yet.  I was having a rather "blah" day until I noticed an e-mail from my puppy's breeder sitting in my inbox.  I opened it up and, sure enough, I saw puppies!  Well, just one puppy, but there were four new pictures!

Here she is chasing after her Momma.  Whee!

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