Our Sweet Riley

It's been nearly a month and I have been avoiding this post. We had to say good-bye to our sweet Riley. He is still a very much missed member of our family. Here is my mini-tribute to our BeagleMan.

He was a Beagle by every mean. He barked at everything that moved, he jumped at the fence for entertainment, he ate yard poop. But he loved to cuddle, he loved to nap in Grace's room, and when someone was crying he would bring them every toy he had. He wanted nothing more than to make you happy, sit on your lap if you'd let him and would mow you over to get that crumb that fell to the floor. We miss the noise and the love he added to our home.

Adding our Boxer was the best thing we did for Riley. He had a new friend and they played and played every day till both were exhausted.

He was so patient with her.

And patient with me!

Graduation Day at PetSmart - Beginners class - Round 1

In the summer you let him out back and have to drag him in later. He loved laying in the sun all day.

Beginners class - Round 2

(He was a true, selectively obedient, Beagle)

June 2006 - March 2012

We aren't sure what exactly caused his spinal injury, but it hit hard and fast. So selfishly we wanted to keep him forever, but watching our usually active dog unable to walk, not responding to any medication forced us to make a very tough decision - one I still dont like to talk about. We know it was best, but we hope to never have to do that again. We bring up something goofy he did all the time and laugh at the memories he left us with.

Such a sweet Riley.

Pizza Night

First off, I LOVE MY KITCHENAID MIXER!! It makes the best bread.

Now that my hubby is home, I am happy to be back in my kitchen. The other night I made homemade a pizza. It was amazing!

Dough:

1 pgk. active dry yeast

1 c. warm water (105-115)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp olive oil

2 1/2 - 3 1/2 c. flour

1 TBL cornmeal

1. Disolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixing bowl. Add oil, salt an 2 1/2 c. flour. Attach dough hook and bowl to mixer. Turn to speed 2 and mix for 1 min.

2. Continuing on speed 2, add remaing flour 1/2 c. at a time and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of the bowl about 2 min. Knead 2 min longer.

3. Place dough in greased bowl and turn over (grease all dough). Cover and let rise in warm place 1 hour or until double in size. Punch down dough.

4. Spread cornmeal on pizza pan or cookie sheet. Spread dough out, leaving an edge around sides. Add toppings. Bake at 450* for 15-20 min... YUM!

As you can see, Steve chose pepperoni and I like bell pepper, onions and mushrooms. This was Steve's opinion. :o)

And just for fun...my beagle tangled himself in my curtains. I had to laugh at him and take a picture before I rescued him. Silly boy.

The Vet Said, "It Cant Get Any Worse..."

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength ~ Philippians 4:13

This was Riley last night. He was a total baby! He had a very hurt leg and I had to wait until this morning to get him to the vet.

He severely sprained or twisted his ankle. It was real swollen this morning and the x-rays showed inner swelling too. Now he has a soft cast on for at least the next week, maybe two. No walks or running for a month!

The Cone of Shame

I guess it doesnt matter he's a boy...he got a purple bandage with blue polka dots. Of course it cant get wet, so what better than a catheter bag to tie on top. Seriously!?!?

So after my fun morning at the vet with Riley, I come home to find this... Reagan ate all that that is missing! Yes, I had a panic attack and a breakdown all at the same time. This is not normal, she does not eat things, but today she did. Back to the vet I went to pick up medicine for her and now I feed her a ton of canned pumpkin, which together should help her "pass" all that plastic safely out of her body. It was a long night of waiting, but so far so good. 4 trips outside and a little investigating, the pieces are coming out nicely. (This is the bottom of her crate by the way)

And her tonight, perfectly content with herself. Clearly oblivious that she made me a nervous wreck! So now in a matter of one morning, I have both dogs on different meds, and I leash walk one and chase the other with a baggie. JOY. 1 week and my husband will be here to rescue me!

Again, as I have said aloud many times today, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

Reagan's Graduation

Miss Reagan graduated from PetSmart's Intermediate Class today! Her final test was to "park it" on her bed, and I had to tell her to stay and leave the classroom and she couldn't move until I returned and released her. She did it perfectly! Im such a proud parent!
I dont care if she is too big for my lap! :o)

Later on this fall we might place her in advanced classes. After completing that she will be ready for Canine Good Citizen Certification.

Reagan at the Dog Park!

Reagan loves the dog park! She will run just far enough ahead to where I am almost out of sight, but then she will stop. I love that she likes to keep her eye on me! She returns to me everytime I call her back. Then she comes home and sleeps for the rest of the night! (Sweet!) I try to take her there at least 3 times a week. I walk or jog the perimeter of the park, which exercises me too!

Happy Birthday Reagan!

My baby is 1 year old today! Happy Birthday Reagan!

Here's a little flashback to the day we brought her home, she was 8 weeks old. (6.07.09) And her today. She is 47.8 lbs and a lot bigger!

Rileys Graduation - Again

My Beagle has done it again! Passed beginners classes at PetSmart. Please Riley, lets not repeat for a 3rd time! Steve says he's too smart, thats why he chooses not to listen. Regardless we endured another 8 weeks and graduated again. Although he drove me nuts today, I am still proud of my lil guy!Riley and Momma

He was exhausted from this photoshoot and curled into his Grandmas arms for protection. I believe he was close to napping.

Grandma J bought him a special graduation toy. An indestuctable Kong! They sat forever tonight with each their own Kong and fought for their cookies. Thanks Grandma!

Miss Reagan is currently in intermediate classes and graduates in 3 weeks!

Reagan Hates Ringing Noises

Reagan hates noises. Anything that beeps, rings, or vibrates is super annoying to her. I have discovered that if I keep doing it, she will howl, watch till very end. Her howl (or is it a groan?) is so unusual!

A New Dog Bed

They get so excited over anything new! I took Riley to school tonight and since we were early we wandered around PetSmart. I noticed dog beds on a super sale so I put one on the floor, he sniffed it. I put this super soft one on the floor and he jumped on, layed down, rolled around...loved it! Hmm, well time for class. At the end of class we get random coupons and it just so happened I got a $3 off coupon for that brand of dog bed. It was a sign, so both dogs are happily enjoying their fluffy new bed, and I enjoy that I spent next to nothing for it! The only problem is they both cant fit, or havent figured out a way to.

I'm just practicing

Miss Reagan - with beautiful pink toes I was busy painting mine, and she wouldnt leave me alone. So, she sat patiently while I painted hers, too.
I think I need a daughter...but Reagan works just fine for now. Im sure she is much more patient than a small child anyway!

Dear Steve, clearly I am bored...please hurry home!

New Indestructable Toys...

...I don't think so!! Not with my dogs anyway!This large orange ball was designed to put small treats in one of the holes and they shake around inside it, and all the other holes are supposed to make it so the dog cant get a great grip and chew it apart...well it must not be designed for beagles who get mad when they cant get the treat and is able to chew it anyway. Good thing the material is pretty strong, but still I dont see it lasting forever. On a great note, it keeps them occupied for SO LONG, I cant even get the treats out once inside.

So I was excited that this was made from firehose and that little label actually says, "Built Tough." Yeah...10 min in and she has chewed a small section from the corner. Ahh, so much for tough. This is a supervised fetch toy only now.

If you know of any extremely durable dog toys that cant be torn and chewed up rightaway, please let me know! I would like toys to last a little longer and not have to worry about pieces being chewed off and swallowed!

But, for now, they are still having fun. And that makes me happy.

The Laser

I discovered one day that my dogs hates the flashlight on the floor, so when I tested a laser pointer, they went crazy! This was on a day where it was too rainy and gross to get them out for a walk, so they worked out their energy by chasing the little red light.

Reagan's Story

Last Monday I came home to a very sick dog. After a few hours of continuous vomiting, I finally broke down and rushed her to the Animal ER. Well after a couple hours and ex-rays later, we agreed to surgery because they beleived she ate a foreign object. Well it turns out she had a rare condition in which her stomach was literally turning inside her body. Had I waited till morning to take her in, she may not have been able to be saved. Luckily, she is doing great now, 10 days later. Her stomach was sewed to the inside of her cavity, so there is no worry about it flipping again. Here she is today. Notice how her "cone of shame" is more than beat up after 10 days. When she was on her pain pills she was easy to keep down and quiet. Now that she feels better and doesnt have meds to zonk her out, she is a crazy boxer. One that has figured out how to eat the cone and run into walls to crack it!
Bless her heart! This was the night we were able to pick her up after surgery. I felt so bad for her, she was miserable and terrified of the cone. My poor baby girl.

You can see her huge scar if you look close enough at the picture.

This was the night we brought her home. Riley has never seen a cone and was checking it out. It was the cutest thing to see him nudge the cone up to poke his head in on her. He missed her so much when she was gone!

A very excited Reagan

We had to leash walk Reagan for 2 weeks after she was spayed and she hated it! When we got the okay from the vet that she was all healed, we let her out to run. This is a short clip of the very long time she ran off all her stored up energy!

Graduation Night at PetSmart

Mr. Riley graduated from beginners class at PetSmart today! Some of his highlights over the last 8 weeks have been: walking nice on a leash, lay down, shake, stay, leave it, drop it and coming when called. When we catch Reagan up to where Riley is (she is very close) we will look at possibly starting Intermediate class.

And since I cant just brag about one pup, here's Reagan, who was sleeping under a pillow. :)

My puppy loves!

My goofy hubby with our kiddos.
Reagan has turned into quite a princess! Her personality is definately showing and she is very curious about everything - sometimes a little too much!

Here's Riley and Reagan! Reagan is now 10 1/2 weeks old and growing quickly! Riley is 3 weeks away from graduating beginners classes at PetSmart. What a wonderful program they have there and my wild Beagle now listens (we are still working on it!)