mes chiens.

it's been a while since you had a pupdate.

buxton is just shy of six months.  he's still piddling in the house from time to time {on the puppy pad which has become our new doormat by the back door}.  he's a whiner & refuses to jump ONTO the couch, but he will not hesitate to jump OFF of he couch.  he still hoards toys.  he still annoys frisco.

we had a scare a couple weekends ago.  after his first trip to the beach, we noticed that his left eye was red & he was squinting.  after a trip to the emergency vet, two eye stains, a few photos {yes, the vet took pics of his cuteness!} & a prescription of drops, the diagnosis was conjunctivitis.  go figure.

 {buxton}

once upon a time, we were strictly a cat family.  now we have two dogs.  go figure.

 {can you see some of the red in frisco's coat?  his color is technically black & white although he looks a little seal - black coat with a red glimmer - to me every now & again!}

frisco is just weeks away from his second birthday.  i can't believe he's almost two already.  he's been doing well.  his eye isn't giving him any issues & the scar doesn't bother him.  {remember his blue eye? if so, then you understand why we were so paranoid about buxton's eye.}  frisco's eye may not be bothering him, but we HAVE dealt with some allergy issues.  last week, adam called me at work.  he was frantic.  frisco was covered in welts & his face was swollen.  after a phone call to the vet & two doses of benadryl {12 hours apart}, he was fine.  from what i understand, boston terriers are notorious for allergies, especially contact allergies.  go figure.

 {frisco}

as you know {or maybe you didn't}, frisco & buxton have the same father.  buxton looks more like their daddy {red bull}.  you would think that they would be similar in personality, right?  wrong.  buxton is a tap dancer.  he will prance & wiggle at your feet.  it's hilarious.  he can't wag his tail, but he can shake his rump. frisco, on the other hand, will jump on you, get in your face & find a way to violate you with his tongue.  

what do both dogs have in common?  they like to sleep.  preferably, on a king size bed.  go figure.

{buxton...how could you resist that face??}

life with two dogs is fun.

life with two boston terriers* is pure chaos.  but, we wouldn't trade it for the world.

go figure.

*not to start a debate {because i don't want to & will not entertain one}, but for the boston terrier purist, buxton doesn't really fit the bill because of his reddish coat.  but, as he grows, he's becoming more brindle.  for what it's worth, his momma is black & white. he looks all boston to me and we love him just the same.

{semi} wordless wednesday: beach bums.

when the weather is nice, we love to take a stroll along the atlantic ocean.
the kids love to look for shells.

buxton isn't too keen of the sand just yet, but frisco {that handsome guy pictured above} loves the beach.  he splashes in the waves & he chases the shorebirds.  also, he may or may not have peed on a beach towel as we walked along the beach...
{but that happened last summer}

the beach is so peaceful this time of year.
crowds of vacationers haven't infiltrated the beach at sandbridge...just yet.

spending an hour at the beach.  just the four six of us.

it truly is heaven on earth.

a pup named buxton.

our newest addition.
he has the same papa as frisco.

he's red with a splash of brindle.

his eyes are so dreamy.  they will not be brown.

his personality is so different from frisco's personality.

he will be our lil' trouble maker.

fricky frack.

because i'm slightly obsessed with, frisco, our boston terrier & i'm still trying to figure out my new camera:

{i used the flash for this picture.}

psst...don't forget to enter my scentsy giveaway!

paws.

if these aren't the paws of {perhaps} the world's most spoiled dog, then i don't know who they belong to.  

shady pup.

i absolutely love this dog.
even when he's up to no good.

pigskin.

{grainy because the photo was taken with el crackberry}

i guess there's no doubt about which football team frisco is rooting for this season!

it's pretty funny to watch frisco with the football.  he drops it at adam's feet.  he waits.  when he sees adam reach for the ball, frisco "tackles."  if frisco gets the ball, he'll just drop it again.  if adam gets the ball, he throws it across the yard.  frisco brings the ball right back & drops it at adam's feet.  and that's how footfriscoball goes.

a gal's best friend.

The greatest love is a mother's; then a dog's; then a sweetheart's.  ~Polish Proverb

 

'mater thief.

this guy has been busted more than once stealing little grape tomatoes from our garden.  the garden is "fenced off" {i use the term "fenced off" loosely because it's just chicken wire}; however, he's clever enough to get to the tomatoes anyhow. 

obviously, he doesn't remember the time he spent most of the night throwing up the most vile vomit last summer after eating a rotten tomato from the garden.  and, he clearly doesn't realize that tomatoes just aren't good for dogs.  period.

frisco, i swear.

one year.

last saturday, aidan turned 7.

today, we're celebrating...

frisco's first birthday

he's lucky he's lived to see this day {not because he was from a bad breeder because he wasn't, but because of situations in his life thus far...oh, you'll see what i mean shortly}.  he had a shaky start due to that whole eye business.  then, just YESTERDAY he ate his first shoe.  and, it wasn't just any shoe.  it was a pair of my flip flops.  my favorite flip flops.  you would think that a new {memory foam} bed, new doggy toys AND a couple of doggy treats would have made him happy, but no...apparently the taste of rubber laced with foot funk {not that my feet are funky, but they are rubber flops...i'm just sayin'} was what he really wanted.

but, i digress.

he's certainly brought a lot of joy & companionship to our lives.  we were convinced that we would ONLY be a cat family {we have three of them}, but adam fell in love with a friend's boston terrier and now we cannot picture our lives without frisco in it. 

he is the sweetest dog.  he's a fierce protector.  he loves the kids.  he's my snuggle buddy.  he kisses adam more than i do when he comes home from work.  he's named after one of our favorite beach spots {did you know that?}.  he's frisco.  he's loyal.  he's our guy.  he's our love.

and, today, he's a year old.

then & now.

{frisco then. august 2009.}

{frisco now. may 2010.}

he's dropping fur all over the house.  he is king of the s.b.d.*  he likes to snack on baby carrots.  he scratches on my back when he wants under the covers.  he loves to play with ziggy, one of our kitties.  he gives kisses every chance he gets. 

he gave us quite a scare.  but he's healthy.  he's quick.  he's a snuggler.  he's a lover.  he's our buddy.  he keeps us on our toes.  he keeps us happy. 

we were once a three cat family.  now we're a three cat family plus one dog.

*silent, but deadly toots...boy, oh, boy are they stanky!

but he's not a girl dog...

frisco was neutered on wednesday. thank goodness because the 'red rocket' has been causing quite the commotion in our home lately.

as the kids & i drove home from school on wednesday afternoon, i explained to them that frisco did fine with his surgery, that he needed plenty of rest & that he could not play, run or jump. i told them that they needed to help me out with taking care of him & making sure that he was warm and comfortable. they agreed.

easy enough, i thought.

wrong.

always the inquisitive one, aidan had questions. questions that required very specific answers.

aidan: mom, did frisco have to get stitches?

me: yes.

aidan: does he have stitches on his stomach?

me: no. not on his stomach.

aidan: well, where?

me: he has stitches on his goo-goo*.

awkward pause. then aidan turns towards me with the most horrifying grin on his face.

aidan: ugh. on his goo-goo?

me: yes. but he'll be okay.

aidan seems satisfied with the answers he's been given, but he wasn't quite done asking questions.

aidan: but he's not a girl dog.

me: what?

aidan: frisco. he's not a girl dog.

me: no, he's not. he's a boy.

aidan: well, if he is a boy dog how could he have babies? you said he had surgery to make sure he didn't have any babies.

oh, geez. what have i gotten myself into??

fortunately, the conversation ended there. but, who knows when aidan will decide to pick right back up where we left off.


*'goo-goo' is yet another silly term we use in our home when referring to a penis. sad, but true.

any more what?!

on tuesday as i drove the kids to school, aidan asked why frisco needed to have surgery.

aidan: mom, why does frisco have to go to the doctor? why do they need to cut him open.

me: because he needs to be neutered. boy dogs get neutered.

silence...

aidan: but, why? what is 'noodering?'

malia: so he doesn't have any more feces.

yeah, right.

the birds & the bees & the dog?

frisco is an unaltered eight month old dog, and we've seen quite a bit of the, uh, 'red rocket' lately. {are you following me? i mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist - ha ha ha - to figure that out.}

we've been quite lucky that the kids haven't seen it yet. that is, until this morning.

the kids noticed. and, they were alarmed.

"mom, look. something happened to frisco's wee-nod*. it's hurt or something. maybe one of the cats got him."

"mom, did frisco get shaved? his jack* is red and looks sore."

oh, boy.

7:45 a.m. in the morning is not the time to discuss the sexual organs of the family pet...especially to two kids we have no clue about the birds & the bees just yet.

i immediately distracted them, crated frisco and whisked the kids off to school.

fast forward to this afternoon.

the kids were home & adam was in the kitchen prepping dinner.

"aidan, did you tell daddy about what happened? daddy...aidan can explain. he knows more."

clearly, malia threw aidan under the 'red rocket' bus.

"yeah, dad. frisco's jack* was funny looking this morning. he was sitting on the couch & it came out and went back in. what happened? why did it look like that? is it okay?"

adam looked at me. i smiled at him.

adam's response?

"it's okay son. frisco is fine. that's just how his jack* is. he's okay."



thank goodness frisco meets his 'fate' on wednesday...he's being neutered & hopefully future appearances of the 'red rocket' will be few & far between.


*'wee-nod' & 'jack' are two silly names we use in our home when we refer to a penis. aidan came up with jack when he was about two years old and that name has stuck ever since.

pup montage.

frisky whiskey.

sir muttley.

the puplet.

sir poops-a-lot.

that dog!

stinky butt.

frisco whisko.
sir licks-a-lot.

don juan.

frisco.

it's been a while since sweet frisco's presence graced my blog. he will be six months old on saturday.

as a wee pup, he was part of the 'disney litter' and the breeder gave him the name, goofy. he sure is goofy. and, how fitting that he was in the 'disney litter' because he's got mickey on his paw {just tilt your head to the left}:

a little up close & personal...and slightly out of focus as i figure out my new camera:

looking very handsome in his {needs to be washed} katie & olive collar from puppy love collars {i got the i.d. tag that slides onto his collar from boomerang tags}:


please don't mind the mess...we were blogging cleaning...

that profile...those ears! oh, how i love frisco's ears {they were not surgically enhanced in any way...they just stand on their own!}.


frisco decided that cleaning off the desk was too much of a chore...


"come on, ma...let's forget about this cleaning and go play...or take a nap."

our lives have changed since getting a dog. changed in more ways than one. but, little frisco has brought so much joy to our lives...we couldn't imagine living a day without him.

oh, and as for his eye {you can kind of see the scar in the photo above...it's on the right eye (his left eye)}...he's doing quite well. his eye has healed nicely. it's been months since we last saw the veterinary ophthalmologist & we will return in january for a follow-up visit. so far, so good...

He should have X-ray vision...

At least you would think so after that $$$ surgery le pup had last Friday. But, he does not.

We had our first post-op check up today...so far, so good. The cornea in that eye is inflamed just a bit, so Frisco is on yet another med {this one is an anti-inflammatory}. His inflamed cornea is what makes his eye look so cloudy. But, whatever infection that was there is under control & the graft is healing well. We go back in two weeks for another check up.

But, enough talking about his eye...let's just "ooh" & "aah" at the greatness that is Frisco, shall we?

{Le pup & his e-collar...it's a pain in the, uh, neck, but it IS helping his ears
stand up...I'll try to get a pic of him tonight without it on so you can see.}

{No, the hubs wasn't holding his head in an awkward position...he was
scratching Frisco's ear for him. You can also kinda-sort see his eye...it's his
left one. Oh, and excuse the dirty jeans...the hubs has been getting out in the
field again. Such is the life of a masonry subcontractor!}

{Guess who has claimed one of our throw pillows? I don't blame him...
this chenille pillow from Target is extra super soft. I love how he fell asleep
with his arm around "Bob" - his favorite toy from Petsmart.}

pUpdate.

Frisco's surgery was on Friday morning. Everything went well. I left work just after 3pm to head to Yorktown to pick him up. The pup & I made it home just before 7pm on Friday {no thanks to the ridiculous traffic we have here in Hampton Roads} - for what it's worth, the drive is usually 45 minutes - each way - on a 'perfect' traffic day {whatever that is!}.

The corneal & conjunctival grafts were a success...well, as far as we can tell thus far. His eye is still cloudy & blue, but that will start going away as his eye heals. We go back to the veterinary ophthalmologist on Friday for the first recheck. It is my understanding that his lens was fine, so we're very happy that he'll start regaining better vision in his eye as it heals.

Right now, Frisco is taking an oral antibiotic as well as four different drops for his eye to fight off any sign of infection. He squirms & fusses, but he's been pretty good about the meds. Much to his dismay, he's wearing an e-collar and it has to stay on for who knows how long. I think he's gotten used to it, though. {I promise that I'll post pictures tomorrow...I'm too lazy to get the camera cord.}

We're still so sad that our little puppy had to go through so much. We still aren't quite sure what exactly happened to his poor eye to cause all of this. But, we are thankful that it wasn't any worse than what it was. We are definitely very grateful to all of the veterinarians we saw on Thursday & Friday!

The blue eye.

This morning, we woke up to find Frisco's left eye crusted over. Thinking he had a mild case of pink eye {because dogs can get it} we tried cleaning his eye with a warm cloth only to find that it distressed him very much. Also, while cleaning his eye we noticed blood. The blood was coming from his eye.

After a frantic phone call to the emergency vet center, I quickly got myself together and dropped the kids off with our friend, Shannon. Adam headed to the office & I braced myself for a very long and expensive day. After two emergency vet visits & one visit with the veterinary ophthalmologist, we found out that he has a corneal ulcer that ruptured. We're concerned that it may be a puncture wound {we have three cats}, but the vet seems to think that it was just an abrasion gone bad.

At any rate, Frisco's eye will require surgery. Surgery to repair the ulcerated portion of his cornea. Surgery to clean the blood clot in his eye. Surgery to hopefully save his vision. We're not sure whether or not his lens has been damaged by all of this. As of today, he still had light reception in that eye. In the meantime, we have FOUR different medications to put in his eye every THREE hours. Surgery is tomorrow morning at 9am.

I am tired. I am sad & I am tired. My heart is broken. But, my little guy is still his playful, kissy self. The kids are handling the situation well, although there were many tears shed this morning when they did not know why Frisco was bleeding. Aidan & Malia named Frisco's hurt eye 'the blue eye' because of it's milky, cloudy appearance. Hopefully, after tomorrow's surgery, his eye will no longer be blue.

I'll post before & after pics tomorrow. Just keep him in your prayers, please.

A pup named Frisco.

{the pics are from this week}

Frisco at play...

Here's a little video I took last night of Frisco playing. He was so frisky! His personality is really starting to show!

The fleece bone he's playing with is just as big as he is. He had so much fun! He also wore himself out - one minute he was slinging that bone around & the next minute he was snoozing on his side!

Disclaimer: I apologize for the really crummy quality of this video. I'm using my back-up camera {since 'Old Faithful' took a swim}.


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