Pets | Kimberussell.com

Doggo update

Aug 15 2017

I’m calling them doggos today to sound more Internet-hip. Is it working?

Ollie is doing great, and completely embracing his mellow years. Having a younger brother has brought the happiness back to him, and even though I know he’s annoyed by Murphy chomping on his tail, he looks out for the kids..

He’s happy. Trust me.

Murphy had his neuter last Tuesday and went from sad:

Cone of shame

To a little bit stoned:

A little bit of pain meds goes a long way.

Since he was beginning to look like a Muppet, I gave him a haircut.

And then had to vacuum the entire house. He also ate some of his own hair during the process. Typical Murphy.

Aftermath.

And Ollie is VERY much into my popcorn.

‘popcorn plz?’

It’s certainly been a wild ride these past few months, but it’s awfully nice having two dog noses around the house again.

Brothers and almost best friends.

TBT: Duke and Bandit

Jun 29 2017

I found an instant photograph taken of Duke and Bandit, 2 dogs from 1978.

You can tell it’s an old photo because of the bright red sofa, the insane flash, and the disinterested arm on the right that couldn’t be cropped out because it’s an old-school photo. Plus the dogs have those old 70s-esque names, not names that could be given to human children.

Or it could be Ollie and Murphy, as taken with a Fuji Instax camera that WM received for his birthday and I stole from him.

Murphy and Ollie update

Jun 12 2017

The dogs are doing well. Murphy is almost 20 lbs, thanks to a safe, cozy house and all of rocks that he eats. Seriously, we fish rocks out of his mouth every day. He’s a chewer and a barker — two traits I have NOT had in a dog in a long, long time. He can even bark with a tennis ball in his mouth. That’s impressive!

The collateral damage so far has been minimal.

Stairway standoff

He chewed some of the woodwork around the stairs and one of WM’s charger cables. We’ve learned quickly to leave NOTHING to chance.

He hasn’t lost teeth yet but he’s definitely gaining some. We’re freezing washcloths and letting him chew on those to give him some relief. And then he drags the wet washcloth across my foot and I fly into the ceiling. He chases moths.

He kind of knows how to sit on command. He sort of knows his name. As for rules, here are the big three we are focusing on:

1) When we leave, we always come back. Always. Even if it’s a few hours or a few days, we will always come back.
2) [insert item/person/Ollie here] is not for chewing.
3) Stand by the door if you need to pee or poop.

He’s a dingus, but he’s my dingus.

Ollie turns 10 this month. He’s roughhousing with Murphy just like he used to do with Max. His ears have been fine although his Horner’s Syndrome hasn’t faded like I hoped it would. (This is gross, but Murphy cleans Ollie’s ears on the regular.) Ollie’s energy levels are increasing, and he’s gained weight back. That’s not good, by the way, but I’m not going to bodyshame him. Ollie is my snugglebuddy and my happy, drooly footstool.

It is a lot of work, but it’s sure nice having two dogs again.

Aliases: Ollie-bear, Droopus McDoofus, Einstein, Olliepeno
Likes: Ball. Fetching the ball. Chasing the ball. Popcorn.
Dislikes: The vacuum, thinking, thunderstorms.
Birthday: June 5, 2007

Ollie, my 35th-birthday crisis. Ollie’s allegedly a pure Cocker Spaniel (so say his papers) but upon further examination…I don’t believe it for a second. He’s large, drooly and lumbering. He’s pretty dumb. But he’s the sweetest dog I’ve ever owned, bar none. There is no guile in this dog. He will sleep on your feet until they go numb. He will fetch a ball until he passes out from exhaustion. He has brought a huge amount of joy to our little household.