Gas

In recent months, I have made many changes to the house that I now share with my revised family of 4 dogs and 2 cats. No other people live with me, so I have had lots of freedom to move things around as they suit me (and my furry friends). Additionally, I was laid off from my full time job in January, so I also have lots of time to make these changes. The house isn't done, but has been majorly transformed in the past few months, that's for sure!

One of the changes has been moving the pups to the basement and starting to convert it to a "dog room." The basement is heated and is very comfortable and they all seem happy there, a bit more secluded from the outside noises that sometimes disturb them. They are still allowed into the main house, but their crates are in the dog room. It's working out really well and gives them more space than they had previously in my bedroom or the second bedroom.

So I was concerned one night a few months ago when I heard the basement carbon monoxide detector blaring in the middle of the night. It is so loud and I worried about the pups and raced downstairs. I got there to see that the "gas" indicator on the detector was lit, but I didn't smell any natural gas. What I did smell was poop. Dog poop. And it was located in Wrigley's crate. Poor Wrigley. Guess that carbon monoxide detector is good for multiple things, eh?

Springtime!

The magnolia tree in the backyard is blooming and the days here in Chicago have gotten so beautiful! The "little dogs" (Probert and Addy) are getting daily walks now and the "big dogs" (Maizy and Wrigley) are spending lots of time in the backyard while I lounge in the hammock. I was in Texas for a week, so it was nice to come back to similar temperatures here at home! Also, I missed my pups! Here are some portraits from yesterday:

Here is Addy on our walk today. She has taken to carrying her pink kong on every single walk that we go on, which is totally cute and charms the heck out of me (and some others).

This is Probert's move on a walk when he wants to sniff something and doesn't want me to drag him along. It is both totally cute and annoying to watch him army-crawl through yards taking in all of the sniffs and totally slowing down the pace.
Yesterday I was finally able to pick up a refill of Maizy's new meds and so she is back to feeling great! She had run out right before I left for Texas and her doctor hadn't written the prescription yet, but we got a donated bottle of the name brand as well as a written prescription for the generic (which is like $7 a month compared to over $50). Very exciting.
Wrigley still refuses to pay attention when I am trying to take a picture of him outdoors. There are SO MANY THINGS to be vigilant of, and he does not disappoint.