It's Maggie's 5th birthday (2nd year with us)! Today, well, we got a lot of snow so we didn't take her to "school". After work though we took her over to a nearby park and let her run in the snow. She loooves the snow - at least she loves the snow when it's coming down and she can run in it - she loves it less when it's a foot high and she has no where to poop.
We got her a jumbo "Happy Birthday" cookie from Kriser's. These cookies, from "Lazy Bones" are her new favorite treat, she goes crazy for them.
Looking back at last year's birthday blog entry, I wrote, "Maggie has come a long way and hopefully a year from now we're writing about how much she's changed in '09. We can't wait for the weather to turn and get her back out to the beach and the parks."
She has changed so much, even just this past weekend (more on that later). She's so much more confident when we're outside, her tail is always up and often wagging, and she starts to have fun and play at parks right away instead of taking an hour to think about it. After days at "school" she literally will drag us around the block at a dead sprint she's so jacked up.
This weekend we took her to the park, which was a little muddier than we expected since the sun was out and had melted the snow/ice. She was running around like a crazy girl and then grabbed a stick with her mouth and started running around with it. Then she'd drop it, go back and get it, toss her head around with it, flip it in the air - all like, well, a normal dog. Sometimes when she'd drop it we'd pick it up, toss it back in her general direction and she'd pick it back up and start her sprints again. She has never picked up anything like that or run around with anything in her mouth. She was so excited that she'd just discovered this new ability. Maybe she was too excited. No joke, she could barely walk for 2 days because she was so sore from running her butt off around the park with that stick.
Maybe the best compliment we've gotten and the biggest indicator of how much Maggie has changed is that on two occassions over the past two months, we've been asked "Is she a puppy?". We always used to get, "What's wrong with your dog?" or "What's your dog's story?". It's just so great to see her start to become a normal dog and discover her "dog powers", she really has a playful spirit that makes us laugh every day.
Of course, the last sentence of last year's blog, "We can't wait for the weather to turn and get her back out to the beach and the parks" will always be true. She loves the snow but we all would rather run on the beach!
We can't wait to see how much our girl changes and grows in 2010 - and we can't wait to take her to the beach!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Let it snow...
When it's not too cold, Maggie likes the snow - especially when it involves running with her mom. Here's a video of her at a nearby park and a few photos.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Florida!
We're back in the cold and snow now, but we spent Christmas and the New Year in Florida with my parents in The Villages. Since it's on the blog, you know Maggie went with us... which, of course, means we drove down there from Chicago.
The first question we're asked (maybe the second, after "You're DRIVING?!") is "How will Maggie do in the car?". Let's see... Maggie loves being with her mom and dad - the car puts her about 2 feet from both of us; she loves her bed, which fills up the entire backseat; and she just in general loves the car anyway. So 17+ hours each way is really heaven for Maggie. I think if we drove to the southern tip of Chile, Maggie would be OK with that.
I'll break down some of the highlights:
Maggie @ the grandparents
This first picture is from the day we arrived. Maggie was so tired (from what, we're not sure) she fell asleep with her face in her food bowl... snoring. This was the first new thing.
This photo is Maggie and I both taking a nap out on the lanai after another rough Florida day.
Maggie decided to prove us wrong at every turn and exhibit behaviors that she doesn't show at home. We've talked about how Maggie is always in her bed here and doesn't wander the house. Not necessarily true at the grandparents (and like good grandparents, they encouraged her "bad" behavior). We'd leave the house with her in her bed, and find her in "her spot". Her spot over the duration of the trip was a corner by the fireplace\tv and at her back was an army of a dozen teddy bears to stand guard. No matter where else we wanted her to go, all she really wanted to do was sit by the bears.
On one outing we'd left her in her bed in the guest bedroom. We came back to find her on the floor, surrounded by confetti. It turns out, Maggie decided to get into a bag on the floor, take out the plastic box containing two doggie Christmas cookies, and devour them. Granted, these Christmas cookies are one of her favorite treats in the world and we left it on the floor about 8 feet from her bed... but Maggie just doesn't do that! Well, she didn't do that. The treat bag was subsequently relocated.
Maggie liked the lanai, as long as someone else was out there with her. Maggie just doesn't like laying outside without someone else with her - at least that's consistent between Chicago and Florida.
Golf Cart
One thing we both looked forward to was Maggie in the golf cart. Like most things, Maggie didn't like it at first (at one point she tried to jump out at about 20mph, but her mom was having none of that) but by her third trip she decided it was pretty cool.
Sophie
Maggie made a new friend, Sophie. We drove (in the golf cart) over to Ron and Penny's house to meet their new family member. Sophie is a little bundle of energy who would wear out even the Energizer bunny. Maggie doesn't always love smaller dogs, but Sophie was very polite (especially given it was her house) and made Maggie feel right at home. Here's a few shots of the adorable duo.
Dog Park
There was a dog park just about a 5 minute drive from the house. It was a nice, HUGE park, especially by Chicago standards. And had one thing Chicago parks just don't have - grass. Maggie had a blast there, and her grandparents got to see that she really does run and play - after seeing her lay around for a few days I think they were skeptical.
The Drive
As we mentioned, she loved the drive... here are a few photos of the happy girl.
"Are we there yet?"
The first question we're asked (maybe the second, after "You're DRIVING?!") is "How will Maggie do in the car?". Let's see... Maggie loves being with her mom and dad - the car puts her about 2 feet from both of us; she loves her bed, which fills up the entire backseat; and she just in general loves the car anyway. So 17+ hours each way is really heaven for Maggie. I think if we drove to the southern tip of Chile, Maggie would be OK with that.
I'll break down some of the highlights:
Maggie @ the grandparents
This first picture is from the day we arrived. Maggie was so tired (from what, we're not sure) she fell asleep with her face in her food bowl... snoring. This was the first new thing.This photo is Maggie and I both taking a nap out on the lanai after another rough Florida day.
Maggie decided to prove us wrong at every turn and exhibit behaviors that she doesn't show at home. We've talked about how Maggie is always in her bed here and doesn't wander the house. Not necessarily true at the grandparents (and like good grandparents, they encouraged her "bad" behavior). We'd leave the house with her in her bed, and find her in "her spot". Her spot over the duration of the trip was a corner by the fireplace\tv and at her back was an army of a dozen teddy bears to stand guard. No matter where else we wanted her to go, all she really wanted to do was sit by the bears.
On one outing we'd left her in her bed in the guest bedroom. We came back to find her on the floor, surrounded by confetti. It turns out, Maggie decided to get into a bag on the floor, take out the plastic box containing two doggie Christmas cookies, and devour them. Granted, these Christmas cookies are one of her favorite treats in the world and we left it on the floor about 8 feet from her bed... but Maggie just doesn't do that! Well, she didn't do that. The treat bag was subsequently relocated.
Maggie liked the lanai, as long as someone else was out there with her. Maggie just doesn't like laying outside without someone else with her - at least that's consistent between Chicago and Florida.
Golf Cart
One thing we both looked forward to was Maggie in the golf cart. Like most things, Maggie didn't like it at first (at one point she tried to jump out at about 20mph, but her mom was having none of that) but by her third trip she decided it was pretty cool.Sophie
Maggie made a new friend, Sophie. We drove (in the golf cart) over to Ron and Penny's house to meet their new family member. Sophie is a little bundle of energy who would wear out even the Energizer bunny. Maggie doesn't always love smaller dogs, but Sophie was very polite (especially given it was her house) and made Maggie feel right at home. Here's a few shots of the adorable duo.
Dog Park
There was a dog park just about a 5 minute drive from the house. It was a nice, HUGE park, especially by Chicago standards. And had one thing Chicago parks just don't have - grass. Maggie had a blast there, and her grandparents got to see that she really does run and play - after seeing her lay around for a few days I think they were skeptical.
The Drive
As we mentioned, she loved the drive... here are a few photos of the happy girl.
"Are we there yet?"
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