Puppies' Big O-N-E!!

What a fun 4th of July weekend party the puppies had! We were hoping for good weather as it had been raining all week. We took the dogs to two different dog parks over the weekend and boy were they all tuckered out!



On the first day we took them to the William R Davie dog park and then the next day we took them to the Ramsey Creek Park. The first was a big 5 acre piece of land, with lots of shade and swimming tubs for dogs to splash around in! The dog park is divided into two - 20lbs and under for small dogs, and 20lbs and over for big dogs. Scuffy borders between the two so he followed his brothers to the big dog park!

The puppies loved mingling with the other dogs. The largest dog in the park that day was a Great Dane named Friday. Sadly, Scuffy was one of the smallest. He was a little intimidated at first, when other dogs came over to sniff him out. But after awhile, he was having a riot running around with the rest! It's Scuffy first time ever visiting the dog park. I think I will continue to take him on a regular basis. It's good for his socialization!



Then their birthday presents arrived! We bought NFL jerseys for the puppies to get them ready for football season. It's also Scuffy's first time wearing anything other than his harness. He's a little squirmy in it, and in this picture he actually looks kinda miserable. But it pleased his Papa to no end that his boy is wearing the Bears' colors!

I am so glad that Scuffy's brothers went to our friends, so we can always meet up for play dates and gatherings. It is a joy to see how different their personalities are, and to watch them grow! I hope you had a 4th of July celebration too!

Happy 4th of July!

What are you plans for this weekend? I hope all my American friends get a nice long weekend even though Independence Day falls on a Thursday. Me? I have to work Friday, so I'm going to make the best of my Wednesday night and all of Thursday. My holiday weekend started out perfect -- I come home to sunflowers!!!

Most of them look like this, but I have three sunflowers in full bloom! 

Just waiting for those finches to come feed on them! *birding heaven*

Today is also very special for another reason. This is the day my puppy turns the big ONE! 

We had plans for a grill out at one of our friends'. She is the owner of Scuffy's brother, Buddy. 

But she had a last minute trip to Florida, so we're watching Buddy instead! This afternoon, we're heading out to one of the biggest dog park in Charlotte to meet up with Scuffy and Buddy's other brother, Beckham! It's a dog playdate birthday party!!!

I can't believe how much Scuffy has grown. I know it sounds silly, but I never thought i was capable of raising this little munchkin from 8 weeks to now! What with all the potty trainings and spankings and snuggling and cuddling, this little baby stole my heart completely!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and beautiful weekend! 

We're off to the pet store to get some birthday treats for the puppies!

June 29 : What's in my bag

|| 1. sunglasses || 2. citronella mosquito repellant & balm || 3. Vaseline moisturizer ||
|| 4. Banana Boat sunscreen || 5. Advil || 6. umbrella || 7. bird guide || 8. binoculars ||

We took a short birding walk at Jetton Park today. It has nice trails, BBQ grills, a beach, lots of trees, mushrooms and birds to be found. I wish I was better at identifying bird songs and sounds. I couldn't really watch through my binoculars because I was holding on to the leash as well. Impatient little Scuffy always wants to be on the go. So, when I stop too long to try get a glimpse of a bird amongst the trees, he tugs repeatedly at his leash as if to say "Let's go, let's go, let's go Mama!"

What's in your bag today?

June 2 : A moment ...

A moment, please. A moment of quiet and rest for our little Scuff-ster.

He's recuperating from a wild weekend of fun with the others at the farm. We were there around the same time last year (sans puppies), but it proved to be a little challenging this time, with 3 dogs and a cat all under one roof! Mayhem!

Which explains why he looks at the camera pleadingly, "Mama, no more pictures pleaseeee".

May 29 : Kiss!

A kiss for my favorite munchkin! Although, he certainly looks reluctant in this picture.
I hope you gave your loved one a kiss today!

May 25 : Us!

Doggy sitting Mr. Benny again! He's a rescue, and according to his owners, Benny is a chihuahua and Jack Russell mix. We call him -- A ball of "Benergy"!



This is little Benny.

Benny totally asserts his alpha male status. Even though Scuffy is twice his size, Benny usurps his place on my lap, while Scuffy looks on helplessly. When I take them out for potty time, Scuffy stays close behind Benny, never in front. Benny on the other hand, makes certain he marks his territory over Scuffy's.

I feel bad for my poor little Scuffy, so he gets extra cuddles at the end of the day when we all pile into bed together!

May 21 : I Care About...

I care so much about this little munchkin! I love him to bits!!

Right now he's looking a little bummed out because his Papa is out with friends. I took him for a walk in the park and enjoyed some Mama + Pup pup time. He's getting better with socializing. Before, he would freak out and bark like crazy when other people walk by. Now he takes it in his stride. My little boy all grown up! *beams with pride*

Who knew this little peanut could make me feel this way!

May 17 : Season

What kind of season, you may ask. Why, tis the season for ticks! Grrrr... I hate them. They get onto Scuffy, and because he sleeps with us, they get onto J and I. And that's the reason we gave him a buzz cut today! Kept his white chest hair though, we thought he looked pretty regal with that puffy chest... *giggles*

May 2 : Morning Ritual

Scuffy's morning ritual is my morning ritual. I take him out at dawn to go potty. He and I have an established routine. We walk in the fields near our house, he sniffs out a good poo-poo spot and after he does his #2, we RUN back home!


After my yoga class this evening, my teacher revealed that her family had to put their 17 year old dog down because it was suffering from illness and pain. As she was speaking, tears welled up in my eyes. Before we got Scuffy, I never understood how anyone could be so attached to their pets. Now, I know. Scuffy is not just a pet, he is part of our family, our baby. I cannot imagine anything untoward happening to him, especially if i had to put him down. I'd probably bawl my eyes out.

As I type this out, he lays calmly with his head in my lap. I love his puppy smell, his ears twitching when my arm brushes against him. When I look into his puppy eyes, I know that all is right and well in my world.

Boston Terrier + Mini Schnauzer + Beagle =

Here's Scuffy and his band of brothers! Clockwise : Scuffy, Beckham and Buddy!
Don't you just love their faces!! I want to squeeze them all!! Looking forward to playdates!

Celebrations : Merry Christmas!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Scuffy wishes one and all a Merry Christmas!
This is his first ever, so he got one of his gifts early!




Our gifts are all wrapped up and ready to go!!  We're spending Christmas at J's parents this year, on the horse ranch.  We hope everyone has a wonderful time this special season,  and hope to see your posts soon!



May you have a blessed Christmas with your loved ones,  and a great 2013 ahead!!

Crafting : Martha Stewart's Christmas Stockings

Martha Stewart sent me an email. Oh-kay. Martha Stewart DOT com sent me an email, with a tutorial on how to make Christmas stockings. And just in time too, because this is Scuffy's first Christmas, I wanted to make stockings for our little Russell family.


This is the tutorial for her Christmas stockings. But I decided that I didn't want to make mine out of felt, so I hopped over to the craft store to get some pretty Christmas fabric and trimmings, and they were on 50% sale!!



I also added batting to my stockings, just because i like soft squishy ones.

And some pom-pom trimming to make it fun!



Ok, so the stockings didn't turn out to be too spacious, i think we can only stuff it with candy canes and perhaps gift cards. But, they look pretty neat on my hat rack!

Yay for quick and easy Christmas crafts!

Puppy love : Dog-sitting for a week

J's parents are out of town so we get to babysit little Daisy for a week. The happiest kid in town has to be Scuffy, because he now gets a playmate to play with.



Scuffy completely adores Daisy. He follows her wherever she goes. He lets her have his treats and wants her to play all the time. Daisy is, however, more chill. She likes to have her peace and is annoyed when Scuffy gets into his playful moods.

But it has been five days, and Daisy has begun to accept Scuffy's presence. They're so cute together. Although Daisy is two years of age, Scuffy is heavier, and almost bigger in size.



Besties forever!

Puppy love : Potty training

I'm sorry if you did a search on google for a beginner's guide to puppy training and found this page.

This is nowhere near a guide to training your puppy, but our grueling experience in the very first week of getting our little Scuffy Nuts. If you're here because you wanted to learn how to train your dog, I sincerely hope you get something out of reading this. On the other hand, if you are an experienced puppy handler, please do not shake your head and close this page after reading. I would appreciate lots of guidance and constructive comments! I'm also still learning! :p



When we brought Scuffy home, he was only eight weeks old. Our very first mistake was to treat him like an adult doggy, since we were so used to Boops and Daisy (my in-laws' dogs). They were pretty trained when we lived with J's parents. We forgot Scuffy needed to learn everything Boops and Daisy already knew.



So Lesson #1. Potty training.

--------------------------------


How to get Scuffy to understand not to do his #1 and #2 in the house?

We still don't have 100% success. However, it has only been the first week. So even though it has been frustrating, we are not discouraged.

Every time he pees and poops in the house, we make him sniff at his mess, smack his bottom and take him outside. We bought a clicker and use it when he successfully does his #1 & #2 outside, and heap lots of praises at the same time. Just be careful not to overuse the clicker, it loses its meaning if the clicks are used randomly and not associated with good behavior.

I take him outside first thing when I wake up in the morning, and also do it just before we go to bed. During the day, I take him out every 2 hours. I read somewhere that the puppy's age in months is approximately the number of hours it can hold its pee. 8 weeks = 2 months = 2 hours.

We try to keep his eating and drinking to a strict routine so we can anticipate when he needs to go potty. We feed him three times a day, but leave the water bowl out for him to drink whenever he needs to.

But i watch him like a hawk. Especially when he drinks more than usual. Now, I can usually tell when he walks in funny way, like he needs to go. Scuffy is also getting the idea. He whines when he needs to go and then I let him out. So his potty training is coming along, slowly but surely! Woo-hoo!


Phew! And this has just only been one part of living with Scuffy!! There's so much more to tell, and even more to learn!

So sit tight and stay tuned for more Adventures of Scuffy Nuts Russell III!

Latest Addition to the Russell family

Remember this?

Well, in short, my friend Gwen's dog had given birth to 3 little puppies. I went over to visit and fell in love with them, only to find out they were all spoken for...

A week later, Gwen sent a text to say that my favorite puppy has not been picked up! She asked if I wanted to have him. Hell yea! Whoever didn't pick him up is missing out! This has gotta be the cutest thing alive!

Well, so we went and got the puppy. We've been potty training him (not easy), teaching him to sit (relatively easy) and leaving him in his crate when we're not home (VERY TOUGH!) This little guy has got the saddest whine ever.

To make things worse, we found fleas on him. So we gotta take him to the vet's tomorrow for his first round of shots and to de-flea him. But he has been such a good doggie. He let us give him a bath, and sat so still when we flea-combed him.

Did i mention that his name is Scuffy Nuts Russell III? J had 2 male dogs when he was young. Both were named Scuffy Nuts and Scuffy Nuts Jr. So naturally, this little pup is the third.

As for his Chinese name, we call him Xiao Bao Zi 小包子。He is 1/2 miniature schnauzer, 1/2 boston terrier, also known as a mini boz. We felt 'Boz' sounded very much like 'Bao Zi' in Chinese, which means "Bun", and reminded us of our time in China. So he was thus named.

Here are some pictures we took the first night we brought him home.
Warning: the following pictures may make you melt like butter.