This has been the most glorious fall weekend ever.  It was 55 and sunny yesterday, and it has to be almost 60 out today, with not a cloud in the sky.

We got a late start this morning (Sundays are for sleeping in, after all) and got to the park a little after 10.  We spent almost 2 hours there enjoying the sunshine.  There were tons of people there enjoying the day-jogging, playing with kids, playing flag football and tennis, and of course playing with their dogs.

There were two Bernese there, but neither was in the mood to play.  But Juli found her friend Penelope, an adorable and very sweet pit bull mix, and they ran around together for quite awhile.

When we got back to the house we were both starving, so we decided to take advantage of the weather and try to eat out on the back deck. Kris made himself chili pancakes (it’s exactly what it sounds like) while I opted for the more traditional pancakes with syrup.

Juli hasn’t been out there much and we wanted to let her explore.  She explored a little, but she was so tired from the walk that she made a beeline for her bed and curled up for a long nap.  It made for a very idyllic breakfast.

Brunch Al Fresco in November

A Tired Puppy is a Happy Puppy

Juli likes to give her toys “the death shake”-especially her fox, the Kong Wubba and her rope/pull toy.  It is the cutest thing in the world, but every time we grab the camera to film her, she gets stage fright and stops.  Here is a short glimpse into Juli’s killer instincts:

After she is done shaking her toys to death, she likes to roll around with them.  At first we thought she was just too clumsy and was simply falling over with excitement when she played.  Now it is pretty obvious that she likes to wrestle and roll around with her toys.  Here she is wrastlin’ with her fox:

Jessica read on the internet that an empty plastic coke bottle makes a good toy for puppies.  We put a little bit of Juli’s kibble in the bottle and she went completely nuts!  I am starting to wonder why we buy these expensive toys for her when a Coke for 99 cents seems to work just fine:

Juli is 4 months old today and has been living with us for two months.  She weighs exactly 30 pounds, so she has tripled her weight in 8 weeks!

She went to the vet today for her last set of puppy vaccines and her rabies vaccine.  We got her city tags, so she’s finally legal to be out on the street   It turned into a long visit because the vet was concerned about the sore on her lip, which isn’t healing.  After conferring with the other vets in the office, she thinks that it isn’t a cold sore.  They now think that she is actually cutting her lip open with her teeth when she chews.  Her skin is growing so much faster than her skeleton that she has a lot of extra jowl and it’s getting caught in her teeth when she eats.  She should grow out of it as she grows into her skin, but she’s drooling so much that they think it’s probably causing her a fair amount of discomfort.  So we got some antibacterial gel to put on it and some wipes to clean up all the slobber.  Hopefully it will keep it from getting infected so it can eventually heal on its own.

Juli is really great at the vet’s office – she really wants to meet all the other dogs, but spends most of the time laying down on the floor waiting for us to give her more treats.  We get a lot of comments about what a calm, attentive puppy she is (which is very flattering, so keep those compliments coming!).  I do think that we’re trying to reward her for paying attention to us and for checking in, but most of her laid back demeanor is just her temperament.  She’s naturally pretty calm and hard to get riled up, so her default (especially in unfamiliar situations) is to hang out near us and observe everything.

Last week Dana and Steve sent Juli some fantastic homemade peanut butter treats.  Juli loves them and it was pretty hard to document her enjoying them before they were gone.

May I have a treat please?

Yes, but you must be patient my child

But I really want one! Please? Pretty please?

yum yum

I am so happy right now.

Juli had another play date with her sister Violet on Sunday, and this time we visited Violet’s house.  We spent part of the visit outside where the two sisters mostly chewed on mulch, sticks and on some helpless bushes.  They did play with each other a bit and chased each other around (from bush to bush), but they were definitely more interested in chewing.

Mmmmmmm.

Juli not wanting to share.

Hey! Follow me.

Juli hasn't figured out how to get the squirrels out yet

1.  Kyjen’s Hide-A-Squirrel

This is a relatively new addition but is sure to be an all-time favorite.  The whole thing is soft, squishy, and easy for her to pick up.  Her favorite thing to do with it is to shake it really hard until one of the squirrels falls out.  I don’t think this is quite what the manufacturers intended.  Then she lays on her side and kills the squirrel over and over (squeak, squeak, squeak) until she gets bored.

Trying to gnaw all the fabric off the tennis ball

That poor tennis ball didn't even know what hit it

2. Kyjen’s Fleecy Clean Ball Tug Toy

This is one of the first toys that we got her.  It’s perfect for a puppy because she can really sink her teeth in when we play tug-of-war (her favorite game) unlike rope toys, which are too tough for her to hold on to.  When she starts attacking our ankles, it’s a great toy to have around to distract her if you want to get her from point A to point B without accidentally kicking her.

Notice the toy carnage behind her

Juli likes to play with her toys right next to us

3. Katie’s Bumpers Sqwuggies

This is a new toy that I bought during the same impulse trip that also got Juli a new collar.  It’s made out of old fire hose, so it’s super durable, and it’s made to float.  Juli doesn’t really fetch yet, or go in the water, but she really loves chasing it and then sitting down to gnaw on it.  As you can see from the pictures, Juli prefers to play with her toys right next to us (I think she would sit in our laps to play if she could), which is very endearing but makes it hard to get far enough away to take pictures.

This is mid-kill - she just pounced and she's about to shake it to death

Chowing down after the kill

4. Kong Wubba Friends

This thing looks like the love child of a fox and an octopus, but Juli hasn’t seemed to realize that she’s trying to eat a genetic freak. It was a gift from our friends Dana and Steve (and Yuki) and Juli loves it.

She’s definitely much more interested in soft toys that she can pick up with her mouth.  Hard rubber toys just don’t seem to interest her, probably because she doesn’t have the motor skills to pick them up yet.

Juli eating her "unstuffed" fox

Settling down after a successful hunt

5.SPOT Skinneeez Fox

This is by far Juli’s favorite toy.  It has been in and out of the wash more times than I can count and it still smells like dog slobber.  Only the squeaker in the tail still works, but that doesn’t stop her from chasing and killing it all afternoon.

Elephant!

A victorious Juli contemplates the meaning of life and death on the savannah

6. Target Elephant

This one is just like her fox, unstuffed, but has a plush head and 5 (!) squeakers.  This is what happens when she tries to play with the fox and the elephant at the same time:

Trying to eat both toys at the same time gives Juli the crazy eyes

Juli is 15 weeks old today!

Weight: 27.8 pounds

Height: 18 inches

Length: 42 inches

Ja?

I still see you.

Take your time. I will just lie down.

Do you like my new collar?

Jessica. Juli. Oz Park. Chicago.

We (i.e. me) got Juli a new collar yesterday!  I made an impulse stop at Barker & Meowsky and decided that Juli would look really cute in a new collar.  Plus I was starting to get a little sick of everyone thinking she was a boy, since her old collar was blue (don’t even get me started on how irritating it is that blue = boy).  It’s made by a company called Ella Dish and the buckle glows in the dark!  Even Kris had to admit that she looks adorable.

September 25, 2009

Juli 8 weeks old and 10.8 lbs.

November 9, 2009

Juli 14 weeks old and 26 lbs.

Juli is getting so big!  Seeing her every day, it’s hard to notice her growing.  But looking back at the pictures from when we picked her up, it’s hard to believe she was ever so small.

She used to be able to curl up on my lap on car rides, but now she rides in the back seat.  She’s also big enough that she can’t fit through the fence in our front yard.

At 26 pounds she’s getting tough and unwieldy to pick up.  We’re working on getting her to run down the stairs, so hopefully we won’t be picking her up to take her outside soon.

I’m happy that she’s growing up.  There’s so much more that we can do with her and it’s so much fun to see her out exploring the world.  But I do miss being able to put her on my lap and cuddle with her – it makes me wish she were growing just a little bit slower.

Juli

Juli

Juli is now 14 weeks old and we have had her for 6 of those weeks.  Our friends and neighbors say that she is getting bigger each and every day.  Jessica and I were a little nervous that she was too skinny and not gaining enough weight, but the vet said she is as healthy as a horse.  We are slowly increasing the amount of food and treats that we are feeding her, and are pretty sure that she is just going through a growth spurt.

Speaking of treats, our friends Dana and Steve (Yuki’s parents), recommended a website for cheap doggy treats, primarily bully sticks.  We ordered 25 bully sticks (and some cow tracheas) and they were about $2/piece (compared to between $7 and $11+ at the store).  We definitely try to support the local pet supplies stores in our area, especially Kriser’s and Dog-a-Holics , but the prices at Best Bully’s simply can’t be beat.  Juli really loves both the bully sticks and the tracheas, and gives them her complete and undivided attention.

Dana and Steve also made some homemade doggy treats and sent us some.  Juli loves them!

We have been taking Juli to a puppy obedience class once a week at Wigglyville.  The class is being taught by Barker Behavior.  There are 5 puppies in the class, including Juli.  So far we are very happy with the class.  I think we are going to work on “stay” this evening, which will be the first command that we will work on in class that Juli doesn’t already know.

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning here in Chicago (65 degrees!) and a perfect day to take Juli to Oz Park.  Jessica has been taking Juli to the park almost every morning, but since I have been working more hours at my job this was the first day that I got to tag along in almost a week.  Jessica has done an amazing job at working with Juli on the leash.  It no longer takes us 30 minutes to go a few blocks!

Juli played with a lot of dogs and even some puppies today.  She appeared to have the most fun with a puppy named Milo that actually just lives around the block.  Milo and her chased each other all over the park.  You could tell that Juli was having fun as she wagged her tail the entire time and kept searching out Milo from the large group of dogs.

Juli is currently taking a nap, but unbeknownst to her later this afternoon we are going to our friends Laura and Jake’s house.  They have a Greyhound named Willow who Juli met last weekend.

Willow

Juli and Willow

Juli "sharing" Willow's bed

This moment lasted for about 5 seconds.