Dog shows- fun for the whole family

I like to record dog shows for background noise when hanging out with the kid. He gets a kick out of them and likes learning about other breeds. yes, my 3 1/2 year old asks me "what kind of dog is that"! Maximus also gets a kick out of them but for all the wrong reasons. He sees them prance around the ring and he is convinced he can jump through the tv to join them. Bellona, eh, she could care less. While she is an Anatolian Shepherd, on the tv is the AKC recognized Kuvaz. American Bulldogs are not recognized at this time. Really, I could care less. All dogs are worthy of love and from here on out I anticipate all of our future dogs will be rescues purebred or not.

Recent recap

So, my life as usual, has been full of adventures.

1. I am back in school for the fall attempting 9 hours while working FT. I am excited but nervous as 2 of my classes involve working in the non-profit sector, 1 of which is grant writing. Agh. I hope to do well but am scared I have bitten off more than I can chew. It feels as if this class would be easier for me to understand if I were taking it in person. The other class requires 30 hours of volunteer work. I love, love, love to volunteer but you can only imagine how hard it is for me to squeeze that into my life. Basically, I don't have much time and free time is a luxury I don't have. Thankfully I am volunteering at the no kill animal shelter I volunteered with prior to Becks arrival. I love it there, I'm just worried about keeping my A+ grades up (serious over achiever here)while tending to our house, the beasts, and little man. Wish me luck please.

2. Maximus ate 2 toddler socks on 9/11. I was scared to death because we didn't catch it until it was too late for upchucking at the evet so we watched and waited. I tried to roto rooter out his tummy with oatmeal + Metamucil with every meal. Gah, I was such a wreck. He pooped one out (with some assistance from mom) on 9/15, just in time for us to catch our plane to NOLA for a mini vacation. I spent the rest of the trip worried as my BFF was dog sitting and poised to take him to the evet for surgery if needed. On our last day of vacation, he upchucked the sock for her early in the morning. Thanks for not letting me relax even a little Maximus. Max is now being measured and fitted for a scary looking muzzle to wear at home when he isn't in his crate. I was shocked to find a 3rd sock in the yard in his poop we knew nothing about. We can't win and I'm done trying to stay 2 steps ahead of him.

3. We went to NOLA. We ate, we drank, we rode bikes, we had tummy aches. Oh, and I got to pet a real live alligator in the swamp!

Now I am back at work, exhausted, dying for sleep and thinking of nothing but homework.

Flashback

Look at what I found in my old Google Video archives; one newly mobile baby Becks and his 2 big dogs. Enjoy the show.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2609737561426483381#docid=2363690675531314558

Boo bear

Bellona was being neglected in the blogosphere, so here is my gal pal. She's a very good girl when she isn't being crabby with the little man. She loves to sun herself even in the 100+ degree weather. Why, is that Texas snow you see? Why yes it is, props to the Furminator brush we could not live without!

We are all still alive... barely.

2 weeks ago, our lovely dear Maximus decided that when his PB filled kong got wedged in between his fancy orthopedic bed and his ex pen, he would kill his bed for this travesty. In a mere 1 1/2 hours while we are at a hospital visiting friends and their new baby Maximus ingested a sh!t ton of memory foam. Fantastic. I threw little man at the hubby and jumped into the car to take Max to induce vomitting at the e vet. I thought for sure in that small timeframe that he would puke it all out. Um, yeah, well then he wouldn't be Max and I would actually be lucky for once.

2 rounds of emesis (fancy doctor talk for puking)
1 round of endoscopy (stupid foam wouldn't hold together for removal)
=
His 3rd emergency obstruction surgery in just 1 calendar year. Yeah, we are pretty famous at the e vet. I find myself explaining to everyone that will listen that we really are good pet owners. In fact, I hardly ever talk about Bellona because she is so damn good. Sigh. My life is anything but boring. Which leads me to wonder what I do to bring this on. Is it merely because I am a special (as in crazy) enough to care for this dog? Is Maximus' sole purpose in life to teach me patience? Needless to say we are all tapped out financially even with pet insurance so Maximus is now relegated to a hard plastic airline crate when we aren't home. No comfy bed for your bionic knees dude, too bad so sad.

Here are some pics to marvel at. One day his epitah shall read "Maximus, the goat with 9 lives"