Lazy morning

Lazy Ellie-belly on her double princess bed. 

Ellie's typical work day

What's on the agenda:

• Potty
• Come inside and kiss Sadie (black doggy friend) hello
• Greet human coworkers
• Sleep on the floor
• Go on a walk with the dog walker and some 4-legged friends
• Sleep in my bed
• Play with Sadie
• Sit in on a meeting (I climb up into an office chair to sit) ;)
• Sleep on the floor some more
• Make out with Sadie
• Whine when it's 4:58
• Go home at 5pm

Vacations, Dog Sitting and Sunny Walks

We've been busy enjoying the sunny weather and haven't posted in a while! Last weekend, Chris and I took a prolonged weekend trip to the Oregon coast. While the hotels we stayed in were pet-friendly, we opted not to bring Ellie because we knew that leaving her alone at the hotel while we go out would be no good. Because she is unfamiliar with new surroundings, I could foresee her crashing into everything and stressing herself out majorly.

So we headed over to Rover.com! I found a grad student dog sitter who was willing to stay at our apartment while we were away and it worked out well! Ellie didn't miss a beat and probably didn't really realize we ever left which was great!

Some pics from our trip:

The beach at Cape Kiwanda

MASSIVE mussels attached to a big rock when the tide was out

We drove 20 miles into town (Pacific City) to get salt water taffy and found this at one of the candy shops!

And one pic of Ellie from our most recent sunny day walk when she just had to crash out in the shade for a minute before we could continue. ;)

Ellie: Queen of Bed Mountain

Lately, Ellie's been a crazy bed fluffer. I don't know if her bed has gotten less comfy or if she's just going crazy, but she will fluff it so much that it will fold in half or flip all the way over and then she can't figure out how to get in it. Or she'll still try anyway, like this:

Sleeping on the side of the bed

Well because of all of her crazy fluffing, I decided to get the second dog bed out (that we don't use) and stack them together. She LOVED that idea.

Now Ellie is Queen of Bed Mountain.

Bad Dog, Spit Bubble

I was a bad mom and Ellie was a bad dog. I left my basket of mini cornbread muffins on the counter and then we left Ellie home alone with them for a few hours. When we returned, I found a bed full of crumbs, and an empty basket on the floor. Ellie ate about 40 mini muffins!

I didn't get a photo of the crime scene, but I will leave you with this fabulous photo of a spit bubble that she blew from her own mouth.

Christmas Fun

Haven't been blogging much lately, but wanted to add a few photos from Christmas. We had a very relaxing long weekend and Ellie got lots of chews!

 She was particularly most interested in the remote-controlled helicopter that I got for BF though!

Smiling by the fire

Finding her yummy treats!

Chewing on her Christmas card that's also a rawhide! (Don't mind the legs with tacky Christmas socks lol)

All Tucked In

My bf captured this ridiculously adorable photo of Ellie that I just had to share. Happy Friday!

Happy Homemade Halloween!

Got a little creative this year for Ellie's costume! I must admit that I didn't come up with the idea, but when I saw it online, I knew it was perfect for my constant pooper! 

Happy Halloween!

Ellie's latest BFF

Ellie is a very social dog, both with people, dogs and even sometimes cats. Getting to come to work with me is a special treat for her because she sees doggy friends every day. Well, even more fun for her is that I tend to occasionally get shuffled around with the office which means she gets to befriend new dogs all the time.

Here I will take you through her various love affairs.

It all started out with Goldie. She is my sister's dog, and Ellie's first friend since knowing me because we used to all live together.

Goldie and Ellie

More recently, Ellie has taken a liking to my coworker's English Lab, Stella. Stella is a very well-behaved dog who gets along with everyone and her only vice is being queen of the ChuckIt ball.

Ellie had a short office romance with Walter, the deaf Great Dane. She was nervous about his size, but loved to submit to him and kiss his face off.

Now her current BFF's name is Sadie and she's a Black Lab/Basset Hound mix. She looks like a Lab whose legs forgot to grow! (And the Basset was the dad!)

Balls and Birthday Treats

Last Friday, I came home to an early surprise:

I've kind of been dreaming of a giant birthday cookie all my life. I know, I'm easy to please. :)

I also won a pack of 12 tennis balls at work, so this was the fun that ensued when I opened the entire pack and spilled them on the floor for Ellie.

The video is a little anticlimactic as she was quite confused...

Summertime Catch Up

We've been enjoying our sunny days to the fullest and hoping that they will never end, but they will certainly soon come to a close. Here are some visuals of what we've been doing:

On a hike up Poo Poo Point

By the way, Ellie pooped like 6 times on the hike! How fitting...

Our best doggy friend Goldie went too!

The view from the top. This is where paragliders take off!

Hanging out at the new workplace with Sadie

Early morning wags from under her blanket (this video is only 7 seconds long):

Update: Feeling Better!

I'm proud to say that Ellie improved drastically over the weekend! Since she was comfortable walking on her leg around the house, I took her on a few very short and very slow walks so that she could get outside, stretch her legs, and sniff around.

She is coming back to work with me again and is SO happy to see her friends! In her mind, it's as though nothing ever happened! Here's a picture I got (shh she's sleeping) of her scabs healing up.

Update: Ellie's Wounds

Good news, the swelling has gone way down on Ellie's front leg! She is still very restful and not interested in getting up from her bed, but when I zippered up my jacket to take her outside, her ears perked right up.

She is not bearing weight on the leg, so my little tri-pod was hobbling around outside, quite eagerly in fact. She even tried to pull me to our usual walk route! I have to carry her up and down the stairs because the vet didn't want her doing stairs.

When we got back inside, I even got Ellie to eat and drink - she must have had an empty belly after over 24 hours of not eating!

Here are some pictures of the wounds:

Ellie's Bite Wounds

Today I learned how hysterical of a dog mom I could be.

I work in a dog-friendly office and we have so many dogs here that our CEO has graciously hired dog walkers to give our four-leggers breaks throughout the day. Today, Ellie went out on a walk with her friends like usual, but the dog walker was training a new dog walker who had a group of dogs containing one whose personality apparently clashes with Ellie's.

Ellie is very reactive and will often mirror another dog's sentiments, so if it growls and shows aggression, she will growl back. I imagine this is what happened. Fortunately(?) I wasn't there to see it happen, but Ellie and another dog got into a scuffle while out on their walk, leaving the other dog with some scratches on its face (not sure the severity, I haven't seen the dog) and multiple puncture wounds on Ellie's arms, belly, and back legs. One wound on her arm was very deep and probably about the size of a dime.

She is a tough girl and is fine, even willing to bear a little weight on the leg which the vet says is a good sign. She will be there until I hear more from the vet in about 2-3 hours when they can get her wounds shaved and cleaned.

As for me, that's another story. I know that she is fine and they are just little wounds that will heal but for some reason, I couldn't help but get seriously emotional. I had to excuse myself to the restroom so that I could cry. And even then, I had a hard time calming myself down.

My coworker was kind enough to drive us to the vet since I don't have my car here (I carpooled) and thank goodness, because I don't think I could have driven with my nerves all out of whack. So at least I have a few hours to calm down and get myself together before I hear more about Ellie's state.

In the meantime, please wish for shallow wounds and no infections!

(Rather than posting a picture of her wounds here, I'll post the link so you can choose whether or not you want to look at it. It's a bit bloody. http://imgur.com/5hMVF)

Catching Up, Enjoying Summer

It's been a little while since we've posted, so I just wanted to catch up and share some pics! We are enjoying the summer and taking it easy so far, but hoping to plan a vacation soon.

We moved desks at work so Ellie now sits by LOTS of doggies instead of being trapped in our cubicle. She gets to play all day and flirt with Walter the Great Dane with whom she has a love/hate relationship. She wants to be friends but is so nervous about his size.

Enjoying the carpool to work

Submitting to Walter

Loving Walter

Enjoying a yogurt treat!

Flat Ellie is ready for Blog Paws

Ellie will not be accompanying me to Salt Lake City because I don't trust putting my beloved furball in the belly of a plane, but I did manage to make a flat pet to take her place while I'm there!

Can't wait for Blog Paws!

P.S. Ellie's paw looks so great now! Just a tiny scab. :)

Cut Paw

Last Thursday, Ellie got a little cut on her paw pad (I have no idea how). It bled a little, but it was so tiny that I figured it would heal up overnight and we would take it easy.

I noticed more blood on Sunday after we ran the Furry 5K and checked out her paw which was now inflamed with a bigger wound. Bad mom for taking her on such a long run! :(

We took her to the vet and she got antibiotics and a little bandage which makes her walk funny. She should be better soon hopefully!

Chuckit!

A few days ago, Chris and I decided to take Ellie on the 1-mile walk to his old high school football field to throw the ball. Well, we had such a great time, that we've been there the last three nights in a row! Ellie absolutely loves getting to sprint off-leash since she doesn't get much of an opportunity like this.

Funny story: the very first throw of the first day, Ellie sprints after the ball and once she catches up to it, she does a roll-over on the grass, as though she was trying to show off for us! I think she probably just lost control of her momentum, but it was still hilarious!

She was dog-tired after all the playing. :)

Crashed out

That tongue!

Happy dog

Wordless Wednesday: Sun spot

P.S. I'm going to BlogPaws this year!! Hope to see you there!

Weekend Hike and Bonding Time

Thought I'd do a late afternoon update. Last weekend we went HIKING finally!! It had been nearly 8 months since we were last out and it was sooo great to get out again! We went to a place called Wallace Falls and the trail kept going by this huuuge waterfall with many lookout points along the way. Loved it!

Photos didn't come out too great but I will post them anyway.

Also, Ellie has been becoming more independent lately. Rather than coming to work 5 days a week, I have cut back to 3 days per week. One day she is home all alone all day and the other day, Chris is off work so she hangs out with him. I like that they get some bonding time with me not around :)

My two loves :)

Much more hiking to come!