Dogs in the snow

Our dogs are so cute playing in the snow that it almost …. almost …. makes me tolerate winter.

And my husband is pretty cute, too. 🙂

Rufus wears a scarf

I finally have a dog that can kind of tolerate clothes. Oh, my 8-year-old self would be so jealous.

Our fashion model, Rufus, modeling a late 90s scarf from the Gap.

The dumping of the iPhone photos, part 2

Work

Spoiled puppy

Beautiful day for a Bearcat football game

To a sold-out crowd of more than 10,000!

The 100th anniversary of the Administration Building at Northwest

I think my reading pile has gotten a little out of hand ...

One of the last garden harvests for the season 😦

Preparing to play tennis ... badly

Attempting to make green tomato pickles (another post for another day)

A view from my drive to work every day

I might be a bit biased but …

My little family is the cutest. 🙂

There is nothing on earth I love more than coming home from work to my husband, two adorable dogs, and cute little house. Bliss.

The emptying of the iPhone photos

American Archaeology, AKA the American Pickers place, in LeClaire, Iowa

Danielle, who runs the place, and the inside of the American Pickers' place

The lighthouse in Clinton, Iowa

A view from an overlook in Eagle Point Park in Clinton, Iowa

Creepy soap dispenser at my grandma's house. Haha. Any guesses as to what that animal is supposed to be?

Sweet Netta-B in one of our flea-market find chairs

Rufus cuddling on the couch with me on a sick day

There are no words for how much I love game day at Pittsburg State University

Go Gorillas!

Library in the distance

Rufus and I watching the Pitt State game on TV

Taming the beast

Meet Rufus.

He started out small. And sweet. And yes, he was the cutest puppy ever, thanks for agreeing with me.

And then he grew. And grew. And grew. Before long he was 75 pounds of skinny, solid muscle. Not an ounce of fat, all muscle, sinew, fur, height and jumpingness.

To put the height into perspective, when he stands up on his hindlegs, he’s about as tall as I am.

Please ignore the terrible outfit, lack of makeup, etc. etc.

Oh yes, he looks cute and innocent. Don't let that fool you.

Soon our gentle giant became a monstrous nightmare on a leash. He was not getting walked because he was too bad, which in turn made him worse because he was bored and not being walked. I bought a harness that alleged it would tighten around his legs if he pulled too hard. Ha. It was child’s play to him and he went right along, pulling me along behind him.

All was bad, but then it got worse. In a true Ceasar-worthy before moment, I was walking him and a sweet little girl walked up and asked if she could pet him, and he went crazy jumping up and down, barking, growling, etc. Thank god no biting or anything worse than that, but it scared me. I knew I had to find something fast that would remedy this situation, or Rufus would spend all of his days confined to our 1,000-square foot house.

Enter the Gentle Leader. (This is not a paid endorsement, this is truly just a word of advice for those with rambunctious, enormous dogs like mine). We purchased this exact one. The minute I put it on him, he jumped and clawed his nose and tried to remove it. But the beauty of the Gentle Leader is that when he pulls, it automatically pulls his head to one side. It doesn’t hurt him, just keeps him from being able to lunge forward. He was baffled, I was thrilled. Our walks went from me holding the leash with both hands and sprinting to avoid falling, to being able to walk him with two fingers and keep him right beside me. His behavior is still a work in progress but for anyone struggling like I am, this device will literally change your relationship with your dog.

And it’s so worth it.

A boy just needs to run

Rufus is showing up more and more in my blog. Hmm.

This weekend was absolutely beautiful – mid to high 70s on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, we took the dogs to a huge open field to run. I don’t know who enjoyed the games of fetch more – my dog or my husband.

My favorite shot of the day - stick high in the air, Rufus mid gallop, Matt following through.

Such handsome men in my life

The girlies

Is this the same dog?

Our Goldendoodle, Rufus, hates to be groomed. For such a big, noble dog, he’s a complete wimp. And, he has fur like a buffalo – so he needs regular grooming. His hair was getting hopelessly matted, so he went to the groomers for a spring ‘do. Tell me: would you have guessed this was the same dog?

And after:

The camera freaks him out - can you tell?

It doesn’t even look like the same dog. He seriously used to look like he weighed 100 pounds – and now looks like his 65 pound self. I wish I looked like I lost 35 pounds after a good haircut.

And while we’re on the subject of dogs, Netta was snuggling with Matt the other day. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever.

And OK, this is a lot about dogs – but this is my blog I guess so it makes sense. 🙂

This is what my lap often looks like when we are watching TV:

Rufus in the snow

Rufus, our just over one-year-old Goldendoodle, lives for the snow. He is never happier to be outside than when it is snowing – something I only wish I could relate to.

This weekend I decided to capture the hilariousness in the snow. Check it out.

Do I have something on my face?

Trying to eat the camera

Pounce!

Oh, hello there.

Anna and Netta are not so enthusiastic about the snow. I couldn’t get Netta to get off her dog bed to go outside.

Anna went outside, but was horrified

Meet Rufus, a sodaholic

You know that old joke about kids liking wrapping paper/boxes/bags better than the presents they contain?

Dogs aren’t much better. Ours have more toys that I can count or trip over in the middle of the night. Rope toys, squeaky toys, stuffed animals, nylabones … But what they want most are discarded socks or empty pop bottles.

Glug glug glug

Hey, it’s recycling, right?

Looks like we're not the only ones addicted to soda.

Good to the last drop

Sorry about the lack of crafts tonight. Feeling a bit under the weather and the most entertainment going on around here is watching a big, dumb dog pretend to drink soda. Ha!