puppy jones love

thundershirt review

2010-09-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

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Ever since Hampton was a young pup he has had pretty bad car sickness which included excessive drooling, puking and whining. We tried everything from treats, positive reinforcement, favorite blankets / beds, short rides, etc etc. but nothing seemed to work.

About a month ago we were introduced to the thundershirt via Hampton's beagle friend Dukey whose Dad runs When Hounds Fly! Positive Reinforcement Dog Training (they also sell the thundershirt). We were pretty excited about trying it out.

We first let Hampton wear it around the house. Almost immediately we saw a change in him. He was much calmer and relaxed. We were pleased with that. We also let ZuZu try it out on our walks (she yaps quite a bit and gets excited very easily). We didn't see a great deal of change in ZuZu but noticed she wasn't as yappy.

After a few weeks of letting Hampton wear it around the house doing different activities (so he didn't associate it with car rides) we finally decided to try it out in the car and...success! We drove to a nearby dog park / beach (about a 20 min drive away) and there was no drooling or puke! He usually pukes right on the 12 min mark of a drive. He was even able to sit and lie down in the car (usually stands). It was so nice to actually drive them somewhere and have a nice day with them without worrying about Ham's car sickness.

So, we are pretty happy with the results so far. Fingers and paws crossed for more success in the future on extended car rides! We would really love to take them on a road trip soon!

interesting video on history of pet food

2010-08-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

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Hampton's facebook pal, Abby Wabby Beagle-Chan (isn't that such a cute name?!), posted this video "The Truth About Pet Food". It provides an interesting history on how pet food came about and information on what should NOT be in pet food.

If you're not interested in the 'commercial' part of the video that starts at the 11min mark.

raw food update

2010-08-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

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Please note: Always consult with your veterinarian first before changing to raw food!

We've been feeding the bb's raw food for over a week now. The first week we fed them a turkey mix and gave that to them for a week to help with transition. They say you can switch to raw food cold turkey without experiencing the diarrhea etc and it was true. There was no diarrhea. But, we stuck with the turkey for a full week just in case.

Based on consultations we have decided to try the following (for now):
- turkey mix (mixed with some veggies)
- salmon
- lamb

I recently learned that we can just alternate between the three, e.g. Monday: Turkey, Tuesday: Salmon, Wednesday: Lamb, Thursday: Turkey, Tuesday: Salmon...etc etc. That makes it real easy! I thought there was a big formula behind it all but it really is that simple! Especially because we decided to buy pre-mixed packages (has all the right amount of bone, veggies, meat mixed for you).

One thing to note however is how much to feed. Here is a link to a calculator that will help determine how much food to give per day http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

Benefits we've noticed so far:

We have noticed that ZuZu has more energy. She is also really eager to eat her food. With kibble she had to be encouraged. Now she just gobbles up whatever is placed in front of her!

Almost instantly we saw a change in Hampton's ears. I was shocked. However, just in the last few days there has been a little bit of discharge. His ears are also still dry and a bit swollen but nothing like they were before. Our vet said it will take a while for his immune system to change and his allergy may not necessarily be linked to his food but something in the environment. So, we will wait and see how things go.

And last but not least, well least in some sense....we are seeing smaller poop! Their poop is less frequent and much smaller in size! This is definitely a benefit - less to pick up :)

raw food here we come!

2010-08-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

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We've been thinking about switching the pups to a raw food diet for a while and finally taking the plunge! We did give Starbuck and ZuZu a home cooked diet when Sb got cancer but since Hampton joined our family we went back to kibble. Honestly, at the time it was just easier. However, Hampton has had a re-occurring yeasty ear infection the last few months that just won't go away and we hope this will help solve the problem. As well, ZuZu is also getting older, she turned 9 this year, and we want her to be as healthy as possible for the next 10!

When we first started looking into making the change it was a little daunting I admit. There is so much information out here and it almost did turn me off. I like simple and easy, especially when it comes to preparing food (hec I rarely cook for Dave!). I was also worried about ensuring the pups would be getting a balanced diet (e.g. the right amount of calcium, protein, veggies etc etc). Luckily, we were referred by our vet's office to a natural pet food store with an owner who is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Yay! It was like finding our own dog dietitian!

For now they are starting off on a Turkey Veggie blend (we went cold Turkey on Turkey! lol) by 3P Naturals (a local company). Zu and Hammie both loved it! I'll write a bit more about their meal plan and progress in the days to come (in case anyone else out there is curious or has been confused with raw diets too). :)

Oh and if anyone has any tips to share, we'd appreciate the info!

our trip to california (comic con)

2010-07-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

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Wow, I feel like I've been away from the internet world for sooo long! There is so much to update you on! Dave and I just got back from vacation (in California) yesterday and we are pooped.

I thought we would have internet access on this trip but turns out the access was quite limited. So all the updates I wanted to do along the way didn't get done! The last 3 days of our trip we did get free unlimited access but we changed the permission settings on our laptop to enhance security and ended up locking ourselves out! Murphy's law? Anyway, we had a great time. Here is a short summary of what we did:

- Golfed in Palm Springs - It was crazy hot and we were the ONLY golfers on the course that day. We had to play though as there was just nothing else to do out there! At least we can say we did it.
- Went to Disneyland - It was my 1st time ever and finally full-filled a childhood dream.
- Went to Universal Studios
- Spent a night in LA. The night we were there it happened to be the premiere of the movie SALT. We spotted some stars: Brangelina, Naomi Watts and Liev Schrieber, Jon Voight...we also attended a concert at the Hollywood Bowl (the best time on the trip I have to say)
- And finally, we attended the Comic Con in San Diego! This was the main purpose of our trip to Cali. It was crazy busy and we had lots of fun. I even wore a Puppy Jones t-shirt because it is my favorite comic of course! :)

There is so much we wanted to do and see but once you pick a room you are pretty much stuck in there, otherwise you loose your seat and can't get in anywhere else. Some of the panels we saw included: Tron Legacy, Megamind, RED, Expendables, The Simpsons, Fringe, Chuck, V for Visitors....One of the definite highlights though was when we met Snoopy! He was so sweet and cuddly.

Charlie Brown and Snoopy were on the cover of the Comic Con programs - they are celebrating 60 years in the industry! Wow 60 years. Go Snoopy!

It was a great trip. We had lots of fun but its nice to be back home with the bb's. I missed them so much! We even drew our latest comic about how much we miss them! :)

Well, its getting late. Hampton is ringing his bell for his late night potty break so better go. Thanks for reading about our trip.

xo
Grace

puppy jones is sneeping the next few days

2010-07-21T02:57:00.000-07:00

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Hey All! Sorry we haven't posted in a while. There is so much to update you on (e.g. the amazing Anipal Academy Awards event, our trip to Disneyland, our upcoming comic con experience etc etc). We'll be back soon to update, promise!

Thanks for checking in!

wordless wednesdays

2010-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

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Hi All
Starting tomorrow the bb's will start "wordless wednesday" posts on their blog. Enjoy!

our comics and the anipal times

2010-07-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

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I'm thrilled to report our comic will be featured every other week by The Anipal Times! We are very excited an honored to be part of this family.

"The Anipal Times was founded in March 2010 to give the Twitter anipals* a central place to find, write, share and link to content, news, announcements and events in the anipal community and beyond. There is an amazing community of anipals creating all sorts of great things around the web, but the more it grows, the harder it becomes to locate and keep up with it all. Most communities have a newspaper and now we have one too."

We will still post our comics on our comic blog so you can still access them here. Drawing the comics for The Anipal Times will also motivate us to get them out on a more regular basis (I know I've been slacking a bit on that!).

On a related but seperate note, I also would like to take the opportunity to redeem myself from the last comic write up for "Mummy Farts" (our first comic to be featured on The Anipal Times). Dave wrote the following to go along with the comic on our blog:

"Mummy tends to have some pretty loud farts. Must be all of the peas she eats. She conveniently blames it on ZuZu due to the fact that we once put her on a low carb diet that seemed to produce some very interesting smells. With bb (bad breath) and smelly farts, ZuZu can't seem to catch a break."

What is false in that statement: "Mummy tends to have some pretty loud farts" - I have to object! I have no idea what he's talking about! My farts are quiet and smell like flowers! ;0)

"New" Puppy Jones office

2010-06-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

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For those of you who wondered if I even existed...Yes Daddy is real!!! I know I don't blog enough. I just don't have the skill that Mummy has to express how she feels through words.

Anyways, I thought I would take this quick pic to prove that the our most recent comic "No room for Daddy" is absolutely true. I remember the days not long ago when I used to sit on that new couch after a long day at work and just relax. You can't see Hampton cause he's in his usual spot underneath the blanket. ZuZu has never been much of a snuggler so she prefers the end of the couch right by Mummy's feet. Personally I think it's because she likes the smell of her ugly toes. =)

we have a facebook fanpage!

2010-06-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

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Our life on the internet just wouldn't be complete without a facebook fanpage: www.facebook.com/puppyjones

We'd love it if you'd join us there too if you have a facebook account.

Hampton Monroe also has his own account as our spokespuppy for Puppy Jones. He'd love to have you as a friend.

"They" laughed and smiled!

2010-05-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

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We were really touched by a tweet we received yesterday about our most recent cartoon. I'm always touched and surprised with any nice comments we received but this one really made us feel good.

It was from our bulldog friend @That1EBD. He tweeted:

"*They* really loved it! Laughed and smiled! #bullDogNATION"

"They" meaning kids at a learning centre where @That1EBD and his Mum volunteer at. Here are photos they took of the kids watching our cartoon:

Its nice to know that we brought smiles to those who watched our cartoon and in turn brought us big smiles too.

Here is a link to @That1EBD's blog that describes the great work that he and his Mum do at the learning centre!

http://that1ebd.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/man-it-pours/

Thank you to our dear friend @That1EBD, you made our day, week, month!!!

Our cartoons have voices!

2010-05-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

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Part 4 of our cartoon animation is up on our youtube channel www.youtube.com/user/puppyjoneslove! Wow this one took longer than I thought it would. Not only because I was thinking about what would happen next but also because I decided to try and use voices! It was fun playing around with the audio and bringing the characters a little bit more to life.

The latest cartoon is Part 4 of a series where our little Hampton Monroe tries to find love online. Being a puppy, Hampton has lots to learn and most times he fails. I have to give him one thing though and that is he never stops trying! And that's true to life :)

If some of you are thinking that Hampton Monroe's voice sounds more like a little girl we agree with you. However, we thought since he is a puppy we wanted to portray a pre-pubescent voice and the innocence that goes along with it.

We were also happy to introduce Curly Poo and Sunbeam in this cartoon.

Curly Poo has only been in one of our comics so far and you may have seen Sunbeam around here and there. If you haven't figured it out by watching the cartoon, Sunbeam is a little pre-madonna. She loves her self and everything beautiful. Curly poo is well, a piece of poo! But he is dealing with it and trying the live his life as best he can. I think you get a glimpse of what these two are about in this video. Their short bios are also found here.

I'm having a lot of fun just playing around with this stuff. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy!

anipal academy awards

2010-05-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

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I've been meaning to blog about this for a while and don't know why I didn't get to it sooner! My pups and I have met some great anipals and their "hoomans" on twitter. Recently one of our anipals had a great idea for an "Anipal Academy Awards" show and pawpawty event! We were very honored to be asked to be part of the planning committee!

The inspiration behind this was of course the many anipals out there with so many different talents. From the words of @AutumntheDoxie the Executive Director of this event "Whether we make others laugh, help organize, write blogs, make movies, help our furfriends on the journey to rainbow bridge, or are just a good furfriend to have we all do something to help one another. Now we will have the opportunity to shine and show one another how much we appreciate what we do for each other and animals everywhere, no matter how small or how big what we do is."

So if you are on twitter or if you are new to this and want to check out some of the nominees / videos / photo submissions etc, please do so. Here are the links:

Anipal Academy Awards information and blog can be viewed here: http://anipalacademyawards.blogspot.com/

Rainbow bridge nominees can be viewed here: http://anipalawardsotrb.blogspot.com/
Hampton and ZuZu nominated Starbuck, here is his write up: http://anipalawardsotrb.blogspot.com/2010/05/puppyjones.html

We can't wait for the pawty!

happy mummy's day to all the dog mums too!

2010-05-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

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Random person: Do you have kids?
Me: Yup, I have 3 dogs. Starbuck is our first, he's a beagle and now with us in spirit. ZuZu is a schnauzer / heeler, the middle child and the angel of our family. Hampton is the newest member. He's a beagle too. He has no fear and can be a handful but he's adorable so gets away with it.

I've had this conversation many times and that's always my standard answer.

Dave and I made a decision years ago not to have 'children'. No regrets there as I love being a 'dog mum' and always will.

Happy Mothers Day to all the dog Mum's out there! This is our day too :)

I leave you with a funny I saved from an email I got a few years ago. Enjoy!

IF I DIDN'T HAVE DOGS
1. I could walk around safely barefoot in the dark.
2. My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated.
3. All flat surfaces, clothing, furniture, and cars would be free of dog hair.
4. When the doorbell rang, it wouldn't sound like the SPCA kennels and I could get to the door without wading through four or five dog bodies who beat me there.
5. I could sit how I wanted to on the couch without taking into consideration where several little furbodies would need to get.
6. I would not have strange presents under my tree, like dog bones, stuffed animals and have to answer to people why I wrap them up.
7. I would not be on a first name basis with a vet.
8. Most used words in my vocabulary would not be: potty, outside, sit, down, come, no, and leave him/her ALONE.
9. My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates.
10. My purse would not contain things like poop pick up bags and dog treats.
11. I would no longer have to spell the world B-A-L-L and F-R-I-S-B-E-E.
12. I would not buy weird things to stuff into "kongs" or have to explain why I'm buying them, or what a "kong" is.
13. I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside.
14. I would not look strangely at people who think having their ONE dog ties them down too much.
15. I would not have to answer the question why do I have so many dogs from people who will never have the joy in their life of knowing they are loved unconditionally by something as close to an angel as they will ever get. Who else has a friend who considers you the MOST important thing in the whole wide world all the time.
-- Author Unknown

we have a youtube channel!

2010-04-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

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Hey everyone! I'm feeling out of touch as I haven't been online as much as I usually am. It's been busy as we're trying to catch up on a few projects. One of them is working on Part 3 of our first series of animation shorts called "online love", featuring Hampton Monroe. I had hoped to have it posted yesterday but will have it up by tomorrow! If you haven't seen Part 1 and 2 please have a peek! If you like them please feel free to forward, tweet, or post on your blog / facebook or simply subscribe! :) We plan on creating more of these on an ongoing basis. Starbuck, ZuZu and our other characters will also have their own story lines.

Our youtube channel is www.youtube.com/user/puppyjoneslove (I wasn't able to get Puppy Jones). We also posted them on our fun stuff page so people could access them on our site as well. Note: We are still going to make modifications to the fun stuff page to make it more fun. We'd like it to have much more than just our videos...its all coming soon (still on my list!)

Love,
Grace

puppy power blog roll

2010-04-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

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So its been a few months since we re-launched Puppy Jones and I'm happy about how its going so far. We are still working on a few of the pages (e.g. fun stuff needs to expand, the links page, the shop...). Dave and I still have our day jobs so we are doing what we can in our spare time. There are a few hiccups with the shop but we're getting there and that is our priority.

I am still really shy about my drawings, animations and everything else about Puppy Jones because its a part of me that not everyone has seen or actually knows about (this is the first year that Dave and I have really tried to put Puppy Jones out there). But what is really encouraging for me are the really great people and dogs that I and the bb's have met online over the last few months. Its such a great community!

By joining twitter (@puppyjones and @puppyjoneslove) and facebook (mainly Hampton's profile) we've made connections with writers / bloggers, artists, photographers, graphic designers, life adventurers, etc. What is extra special about these connections and discoveries I think is that there is a common love for dogs.

It seems everyone I've come across has showed encouragement, positive energy and support that you don't always get from other people you meet or know. I think it definitely has something to do with the fact that we all have this love for animals, especially dogs. For lack of a better term, I call that puppy power! (I'm imagining puppy rock doing his fist pumps as I say this - if you don't know what I'm talking about see puppy rock in this video)

Here are a few people and their blog / websites that I've come across and really enjoy. They are all genuinely nice, interesting people and am happy to have met them online.

azora - Hyedie co-writes on this blog which is mainly about sharing thoughts, art and various creations. She belongs to a beagle named Dukey and regularly fosters rescue beagles. By day Heydie is a graphic designer and I love her designs. Her design work can be found here: http://www.happyd-designs.com/ What is also cool is that her boyfriend / fiance(?!) is a positive reinforcement dog trainer. I love this video of her fiance and Petey the rescue beagle they are fostering. I hope to meet Hyedie and Dukey in person this month!

The Joyful Springer - This blog is inspired by Ande's joyful springers, Ducky and Muggins. Ande has such positive energy I was naturally drawn to her website / blog. This blog is all about joy and each post features a fun / happy dog. Who could ask for more? Ducky's twitter is @joyfulspringer

Ruby's Big Adventure - Ruby is a very cute and funny Boston Terrier and one of the bb's twitter friends. Her Mum Kim writes about adventures with Ruby which include what its like raising a puppy (with 2 other cats in the house) and the recovery from surgery on both of her hind legs. Ruby tweets @RubytheBT

Animals Wisdom - Maya is a Intuitive Communicator and Holistic Health Consultant learning life lessons with her pitt bull, Starr. She blogs on her website and takes beautiful photos. I really like her outlook on life and perspective on our relationship with animals. She tweets regularly @animalswisdom

Melissa Travels - This is one of the life adventurers I was talking about. Melissa moved all the way from the US to Thailand...with her Beagle Sadie! Need I say more? She blogs regularly about her new life there with Sadie by her side. Sadie and her Mum tweet @Sadiebeagle

http://blog.merrindonahue.com - Merrin is another life adventurer and a beagle Mummy to Oliver. Merrin's traveled to Africa a few years ago and wrote all about it in her blog. I really enjoyed reading all about it - she was very detailed in her posts with great photos. Oliver tweets @Oliverthebeagle

lipsmackstudio - I just recently met Scooter and Bella (2 beagles) and their Mummy Laura on facebook via Hampton. Laura is a graphic designer and a photographer. I'm still reading through Laura's blog but really liking it so far. You'll find beautiful photos here and I really enjoy reading her posts.

That's it for now but I'm sure I'll have more to add to this puppy power blog roll list in the future. There are a few dogs with their own blogs I'd like to mention but I'll save that for another post.

barney the basset

2010-04-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

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I was really excited to get my first ever request to draw one of Hampton, ZuZu and Starbuck's twitter friends - @barneythebasset

My drawing was inspired by Barney's puppy photos. Dave helped me to refine the drawing (as he always does). We hope you like it Barney!

Cute Barney posted the drawing on his twitter page and added a note to say he has joined our bb's in cartoonland now. What a sweetie. Who knows Barney, you may make an appearance on one of our comics one day! :)

Since then we've actually received a few more requests and VERY flattered about that. However, with our busy schedule we decided we'll save this for a contest in the near future.

Make sure you check out Barney's website, especially his 'funny' album .

peanut butter nom noms

2010-03-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

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I mentioned in my previous pupcake post that I make all our treats for the bb's. Peanut butter nom noms (aka peanut butter terrifics) are the staple treat I make for them. Its super simple to make and they love the peanut butter. Here is the recipe (c/o "The Healthy Dog Cookbook, by Jonna Anne with Mary Straus) and a few pictures:

Prep time: 10 min, makes about 24 treats

1/2 cup water
3 tbsp peanut butter (organic, no salt)
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (brown)

ZuZu and Hampton are always on their best behavior when I bake cookies for them. And, some most times they get to lick leftover peanut butter off the measuring spoon. Hampton got some on his nose. I thought he might go crazy not being able to get it off but he did after about a minute.

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix all the ingredients together
3. Cut into desired shapes

I like to use heart, butterfly and tulip cookie cutters:

4. Bake for 30 min or until lightly browned and crisp:

ZuZu and Hampton could smell the cookies baking from the backyard. Here they are peaking into the kitchen window. "Are they ready yet? Are they ready yet?!"

The cookies should keep 2-3 weeks in an airtight container...

but won't keep as long if the bb's have it their way! :)

Enjoy!

enjoying a rainy day off

2010-03-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

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The last 2 weeks have been busy for me in my non-puppy jones life. Finally enjoying a day off to myself with the bb's. Its rainy today but no complaints here. Rainy days are good sometimes in that no expectations come with it. I only feel bad for the pups when they have to do their 'business'.

Now if I could really get them to take themselves out for a walk in the rain that would make rainy days even better!

Hope you all are enjoying your rainy day too!
xo

i'm back!

2010-03-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

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So I'm finally feeling better. Still coughing at night really badly but at least during the day I'm feeling back to normal. Turns out I have bronchitis so I'm on antibiotics right now. I thought about not taking them and looking for an alternative more natural remedy but I'll have to look into that for next time.
There is so much to catch up on! I am committed to getting things done this weekend I had to put off. Especially updates to the website.

xo

p.s. Hampton has gotten into a bad habit of waking up and waking me up between 4:30 - 5:00 AM!! Any ideas on how to get him to stop? I try to ignore him but turns out he has more endurance than I do.

feeling sick - will update soon!

2010-02-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

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Hi All
I caught a nasty bug not feeling 100% (more like 60%). I'm trying to catch up on work (my day job) and also need to pick things up on Puppy Jones. Just a quick note though to say I'll be back soon with more updates! Just need a few more days to get caught up. If only things were as easy and quick as updating your twitter status haha!

xo

starbuck and hampton

2010-02-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

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As you may know, Starbuck and Hampton have never met. However, we believe Starbuck's spirit lives in Hampton. After all, Ham was born the day after Starbuck passed. We often wonder what lessons Starbuck might have taught Ham, from one beagle to another. We're sure a head tilt (see comic page) would be on the list.

Although they are similar in the simple fact they are the same breed and in terms of the abundance of love and snuggles they have to give, they definitely have their own personalities. A few examples:

Starbuck was very particular about his cleanliness. He did not like stepping in anything dirty. He would literally tip toe around muddy puddles and very quick to leave the area where he would do his business. He also loved loved loved his baths. We would often find Starbuck sitting in the bathtub just waiting for his 'spa time'.

Hampton is...well not so clean. He loves getting his paws dirty and I have to admit he did have a thing for eating his poop (yuck!). Hampton doesn't mind baths but soon after its all done he is quick to get himself all dirty again.

Starbuck was very particular about his food and treats. Quite unusual for a beagle. We could leave food out for him and he wouldn't touch it until he felt like it. He also liked to inspect the treats that were offered to him. There were some he would take politely and others he would shun away.

Hampton loves his food and treats. He will gobble anything up. Recent evidence is the charcoal we had to give him for the potential exposure to rat poison. He also likes to eat up all his toys. That's why he's only allowed a few minutes with them at a time.

Starbuck was also a very dramatic beagle. He would yelp at the slightest things that upset him. He also was very sacred of bugs. If he saw a spider or fly he would run to straight to me and literally jump in my lap.

Hampton isn't scared of anything. When we first brought him home he was bouncing around and exploring every area of the house. We first knew he was going to be a fiesty one when he went down the stairs for the first time. He didn't want any of our help and barked at us when we tried to get close. He wanted to do it all himself!

Despite these differences I think if they did have the opportunity to meet they would be great pals. I could see Starbuck teaching him the secrets to getting what they want from us humans, just like in the head tilt comic. I think they would have made great partners in crime!

rat poison - noooo!!!

2010-02-16T22:41:00.000-08:00

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I am still really tired from the events over the last few days so I hope this post makes sense as its an important one!

We've always been very careful about not having the pups any where near anything dangerous they could consume. But unfortunately on Sunday while we were out celebrating Lunar New Year Hampton was exposed to rat poison. One of our worst nightmares!

It happened while we were coming back from a walk. I saw Hampton reach for something and at first I thought it was plant fertilizer. He was on a his lead so I immediately pulled him back and checked his mouth. I didn't find anything but wasn't 100% sure that he didn't get any of it. When we found out it was actually rat poison the panic really started to set in. We spent the next 30 minutes trying to get him to vomit. We gave him a tsp of salt...nothing happened. 15 min later we gave him another tsp of salt, that didn't work. We didn't want to waste anymore time so we decided to take him for a drive. Hampton gets really car sick and yup, within a few minutes it all came out. The car sickness is something we've been trying to help him with and this was the only time we were grateful he vomited in the car.

We ended up taking him to the emerg vet clinic as a follow-up. They ran blood tests and checked that the salt didn't do any damage as well. All the results came out positively (big sigh of relief). We didn't get home until about 3am as there was a wait at the clinic (even animals have a long wait in emerg!).

When we got home we gave him a dose of charcoal as directed by the emerg clinic. A few hours later we were up to give him the 2nd and final dose. Luckily, Hampton being a true beagle, just gobbled it all up. We didn't have to do any tricks or give him anything extra to encourage him. If it were ZuZu or Starbuck, there's no way they would go near it without extreme coaxing.

I do admit all of this reminded me of when Starbuck first got sick. They initially thought Starbuck had rat posioing b/c he was exhibiting almost the same symptoms. But I've pushed those thoughts of anxiety away and replaced them with positive ones.

Our vet came by today to take the 2nd blood test and we just got the results. Although they are normal, they are in the high range of normal. I'm not sure what that means exactly but she is going to let us know tomorrow if another test needs to be taken. So we are almost out of the woods!

Hampton is doing great. He is his usual curious, playful self and not exhibiting any symptoms. He's milked his time of being sick by cuddling up with ZuZu (see her post their My Puppy Diary blog).

So a few tips and lessons learned from all this:

1. Always ask whomever you are visiting with about any potential dangerous substances. Especially ask those who don't have dogs as they won't be as aware of what could be dangerous.

Also check with your neighbors about whether they use rat poisoning. Because rat poison can last in the system for up to 3 days without showing any symptoms the rodent could end up bringing the poison into your yard.

2. You can use salt to induce vomiting - 2 tsp max. Salt is generally bad for dogs. I don't use salt in any of my baking and check that its not an ingredient in whatever food or treats we give them. It can cause dehydration, allergies and too much of it can cause major problems like brain damage.

3. Its better to be safe than sorry. Go to the emerg clinic or get your dog to your vet right away even if (s)he has vomited after being exposed to a dangerous substance. Its always best to check than to regret it later

That's all for now. I'm getting really tired and need to sleep. I just wanted to give you an update as its been a few days and I'll be sure to give another when he's 100% in the clear. :)

Nite nite!

happy heart day!

2010-02-14T01:30:00.000-08:00

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You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. ~Dr Seuss

We can relate to Dr. Seuss today. We're all up late working on a few things for Puppy Jones and just spending some quality time (QT) together.

We have a new valentine's day comic up in our comic blog that basically sums up how we spent our weekend. We're a pretty laid back couple and its true we feel happiest spending time at home with the bb's (except we were pretty happy on our honeymoon in Paris but we did miss them very much). We didn't come up with the comic for laughs but wanted to share something sweet with you and something other dog lovers can relate to.

A heart warming observation today in theme of heart day:
On our walk tonight a car came up the road which separated me and Hampton on one side and D and ZuZu on the other side. I could see Hampton getting a bit anxious about seperating away from D and ZuZu, which I expected. I also noticed however that ZuZu looked a bit anxious too. I was a bit surprised as although I know she looks out for him its not the same bond she had with Starbuck. When the car passed they both ran at each other and touched their noses as if to say 'hi we're back together again'.
Its nice to see the bond between ZuZu and Hampton becoming stronger. She even let him snuggle with her in her favorite spot and she also gave him some kisses as Hampton proudly posted in his blog. Perhaps she knows its Valentine's day and is giving him some extra love.

Hope everyone gets some extra love today!

puppy jones love

thundershirt review

interesting video on history of pet food

raw food update

raw food here we come!

our trip to california (comic con)

puppy jones is sneeping the next few days

wordless wednesdays

our comics and the anipal times

"New" Puppy Jones office

we have a facebook fanpage!

"They" laughed and smiled!

Our cartoons have voices!

anipal academy awards

more cartoon videos coming soon

happy mummy's day to all the dog mums too!

we have a youtube channel!

puppy power blog roll

barney the basset

peanut butter nom noms

enjoying a rainy day off

i'm back!

feeling sick - will update soon!

starbuck and hampton

rat poison - noooo!!!

happy heart day!