Sibling Love

As I've mentioned in past posts, Petunia isn't our only 4 legged family member, we also have a cat named Soccer. He is 7 and hasn't been thrilled that he has to share his space with Petunia.

As a pup, Petunia thought it was fun to play with Soccer's cat condo. This is too funny...

With time, Soccer has become more comfortable with the dog. Here they are both sharing spots on the bed....

Relaxing together...

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Exercise?!?!

One of my hobbies and past times is working out...specifically I've been on a Turbo Fire kick. It's an amazing at home DVD program. There are a dozen DVD's that are mixed up week to week. It's fun!

Petunia really isn't too interested in the early morning workouts. In fact...she is quite slow getting out of bed in the morning. She drags herself downstairs and immediately hits the couch and her oh so favorite pillows for an early morning nap while I workout. Sometimes she watches but most of the time she has little interest...UNTIL...the yoga mat comes out! She LOVES it! She rushes over and sprawls out...often preventing me from fitting on the mat and doing my exercises. Maybe one day I can convince her to join me in my exercises...kidding of course. :)

Look at this face....

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Dog is Good

I guess it's time to recommend another pet product. While at a Pet Expo last year I purchased a dog water bottle. I had been looking for one for awhile but couldn't make up my mind on what type to buy. The dog park we go to doesn't have water and we also needed a solution for our uphill summer walks. I had been looking for a plastic bottle that had a fold out water tray but hadn't bought one yet when I stumbled upon the Dog is Good water bottle.

dogisgood.com

Not only is it super cute, it is stainless-steel so it stays cold; it has a clip so you can carry it hands free by attaching it to your belt loop or purse, etc; and it has two openings, one that has a ball...like a hamster water bottle...and another large opening for filling or for flipping over and using it like a cup. Too cool!

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To the Park

Petunia loves outings. She loves everything about them...the fresh air, the smells, and even meeting other dogs. While we've had a few set-backs and bad experiences at the dog park...more on that in another post...we just can't help but take her to the local dog park. She loves the car ride getting there...

And once we get there she just can't wait to get in...

We prefer to take her in with the small dogs...even though she is over the 30 lb weight limit. She's had a few bad experiences with the large dogs...lots of mean dogs :( Plus the side for small dogs has grass (vs dirt). When we arrived she was the only dog...

But after about 15 minutes another dog arrived. It was a miniature poodle that looked like Petunia. His name was Puddle and he was speedy. He loved to chase his ball.

What a fun outing to the Park!

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This is funny...

I found this on a fellow bloggers page and just couldn't help but re-post. I'm sorry it's a little blurry.

Enjoy!

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Longer and Longer...

So one of the biggest challenges that we faced with Petunia was what to do with her fur...or is it hair? Regardless of what we call it, it has been the topic of discussion and given us many hours of work. Before we got Petunia, when I researched Labradoodles online, most had beautiful long, wavy fur. It's one of the things that made me want one so bad. They can look almost like teddy bears...fluffy and cuddly. When we were searching for a Labradoodle I knew I wanted one with a curly coat.

I apparently didn't do enough research beforehand to truly understand the differences in the hair types nor did I realize that the coat can change with age (ie the fur can get curlier as they get older). The breeder was honest with us and said she would have a curly coat. But I guess I was under the impression that her coat...or hair...or whatever you want to call it...would stick with her and continue to look just like it did when she was 12 weeks old. Little did I know, her hair is curly..really curly. Just as the breeder said it would be. Not wavy as it looked when she was pup and how I had imagined.

Not only was it curly...it also grew...and it grew quickly. I loved the look of her fluffy coat and wanted to keep her hair long. But as she got older, her fur got longer...and longer...and longer. So long that it eventually looked like this:

Looking back at it now, I can't believe we ever let it get that long. Even with regular bathing and brushing by a professional groomer, we still had the challenge of maintaining this coat. We spend hours and bought countless brushes, combs, and other grooming gadgets trying to keep it from getting matted and tangled.

Sadly, we were forced to not only cut her hair, but shave it when she about 10 months old...that will be a story for another post. Nevertheless, I am happy where we are today. With the help of an amazing Groomer we have come up with a happy middle ground...short enough on her body that she doesn't get mats and long enough on her face and tail that she can still be the fluffy, cuddly Doodle I wanted:)

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Opening Day...

Opening Day...the start of the 2012 season.

Well...I'm a little late...but at least I can say Opening Week! When I think about Open Day...or in this case Opening Week...I think of Spring. The start of a new baseball season. Flowers blooming...sunny blue skies...and warm weather!

Mr. and I were fortunate to get to go to the Padres game on Friday night...not Opening Day...but Opening Week...the second game but the first night game of the 2012 season.

Mr. likes baseball...not as much as football...but he likes it alot.

Mr. and I got to the ballpark early and I spotted a booth giving out free stuff from afar. As we got closer I realized it was the Budweiser girls but they had this fun wheel that you could spin to win free Padres stuff...shirts, hats, towels, etc. There were about a dozen people in line...which didn't seem to bad. I wanted to give it a spin. Mr. didn't want to...but after a little persuading and begging...he agreed. :) The line moved quickly and before we knew it we were up to bat...I mean spin. I went first. My first spin I got a strike...yikes...if I got two more of those I'd be out...without a prize. Thankfully that didn't happen but on my second spin I got...drum roll please...a koozie. A beer koozie!?! This wasn't the shirt or hat that I was hoping for...what a disappointment.

I was so distracted by my disappointment and the Budweiser girl handing me a $2 off Budweiser coupon, that I forgot Mr. was behind me spinning his luck. By the time I could even look over he already had a shirt in his hand. He had won a shirt! I was so excited for him. However...my excitement quickly deflated. First...they must have assumed everyone is "one size fits all" because you didn't get to pick your size...they handed everyone a size L. I thought to myself...that's okay...it might be a little snug on Mr. but I could wear it. Second...after getting past the one size fits all...I mean Large...I held the shirt up and my mouth dropped. This was one of the most hideous t-shirts. It was white with a baseball and big Budweiser logo across the middle. What a disappointment.

Before long I realized I had a plan...a plan that immediately made me smile. This "shirt" could be Petunia's souvenir! She would love it! The game, unfortunately, was a blow out...but I was excited to give Petunia her new shirt.

Here is Petunia showing off her new shirt, along with the baseball toy I found for her this weekend at the grocery store. She is all set for baseball season!

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Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is celebrating and enjoying this special day with family and friends.

Mr. surprised me with all of my favorites! A purple basket-my favorite color, filled with candy-also my favorites...jelly beans, Reese's and SweetTarts gummies. Yummy!~

Since we don't have any bunny ears to put on Petunia, I have decided to post pictures I found of other cute dogs with bunny ears.

Petunia's friend, Taffee, has agreed to a cameo. Here she is celebrating Easter.

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The Litter Locker II

I realize this Blog revolves around Petunia and our lives with our wonderful Doodle but I would like to periodically Blog about pet products I love and recommend. Soccer, our other 4 legged family member, happens to be a cat. Growing up I never owned a dog and therefore I was naturally drawn towards cats and kittens. A few weeks after settling into our first apartment after getting married we adopted a kitten, Soccer. That was over 7 years ago. Even having a cat almost my whole life I didn't hear about this product until about a year ago.

The Litter Locker II

Have you ever heard of this amazing product? To best describe it I would say it is the diaper genie for cats. The Little Locker II has a cartridge of bags. They cost about $10 and last approximately 4-8 weeks.

Here is what the refill cartridge looks like.

You essentially scoop the litter into a small compartment at the top of the litter locker. Once you are done scooping you pull open a trap door and the litter drops into a bag that is in the larger compartment. The trap door keeps odor out. Once the bag is full (about 1 month later) you open the large compartment, tear the bag, tie it off and take the bag of litter to the garbage.

Mr. would describe it as another place to store the poop. And those that don't have cats might not understand what this does exactly but I can confidently say it makes cleaning the litter box so much more convenient and easy. Most cats prefer a clean litter box, and some will refuse to use it if it's not clean. Instead of having to scoop the litter and take it out to the dumpster every day you can simply scoop it into the Litter Locker II, which you can store right next to your litter box. The Litter Locker II blocks all the odors and will last about a month.

I would recommend this to every cat owner. This truly is an awesome invention.

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What's in a name?

Well...as you may have read in my previous post, our Petunia was originally named Celeste. We knew almost immediately that we had to find a more suitable name. Mr. was the one that suggested Petunia. I didn't love it at first...but after a few hours it grew on me. Our little Petunia...somehow that just fit! It's even more delighting when strangers ask us what her name is and when we tell them Petunia their faces light up. We regularly hear things like "Oh..what a perfect name." Or "She looks like a Petunia."

Nicknames...have you ever had a pet with a nickname? Well...we can say that our Petunia has several. These too just grew on us...one day Mr. called her Toonzeez and another time it was Tunes. And I'll be honest...I sometimes call her my Love Bug or Miss Tunes or Baby. In my opinion she has the personality to fit each and every one of these names. :)

Does she look like a Petunia to you?

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Aren't you comfy??

Our Petunia sure does have a liking for the finer things in life...it amazes me to see the spoiled dog that we have created. She LOVES pillows! Why is it that when we brought her a beautiful, fluffy dog bed when she was a pup, she ruined it within a few weeks??? Now she somehow has found a way to make our pillows hers. She loves the pillows on the bed and the sofa pillows...and for that matter anything comfy and cozy.

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