My Funny Valentine

Greetings all! I again apologize for the long time in between posts...life can get busy in a hurry!

In mid-January, Betty was blessed to have her two aunties, Lindsay and Amy, visit her all the way from Missouri and Texas, respectively. When they first arrived, she was a little timid and wanted to hide behind me. However, the girls moved to the living room, I went to the bathroom, and I came back to find Betty wedged between them and loving the attention. Here's a picture of the love.



Betty clearly wanted to hold on to Amy's hand as well...



They adored her, as was expected. Betty also got to meet her other auntie, Mindy, at my aunt's condo in Huntington. Here we all are together.




They all loved meeting her and she loved them all, too. It was a big love fest. :)

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Since I last wrote, we also had a somewhat traumatic experience. Betty went from being a miss to a ms. (she was fixed.) This was probably harder on me than on her. She did really well and didn't chew on her incision, so she didn't have to wear the cone on her head. She also had her dew claws removed on her back feet, which meant she had her feet wrapped tight, making it appear like she was walking on stilts. It was pretty funny. (I apologize for not taking pictures).

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After we could finally get her groomed, my mom really wanted to take pictures of her with her valentine scarf on (that the groomer gave her.) Some of the pictures were just adorable and a few of my favorites are below:

I love this one, even if you can't see her whole body.



Here she is stretching, which she loves to do...



and this is her pensive look...




SOOO CUTE.

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Lately, my mom has been wanting to buy things for Betty left and right. More than anything, she has wanted to get her little grandpuppy a small sofa-like bed with a backing. Well, we saw one today and she had to get it (even though it's bright pink). Betty seems to really enjoy it thus far.





In the excitement of getting the new bed, Betty jumped on my leg to stretch and I quickly got this picture that I love.



Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Puppy's First Christmas

Happy Holidays Everyone!

We have had an especially nice Christmas this year with our new addition to our family. Before I begin with Christmas, I would like to review a few things Betty has been up to. First off, she completed her puppy school with flying colors! Betty is now very good with the following commands: sit, go to your mat, touch my hand, and down (lay down on stomach). We are currently working on her not pulling when we go on a walk. She's really not that bad, but the trainers at Wags and Wiggles said she shouldn't pull at all but walk with you. We are still working on Betty's nervous nature around other dogs. Each time she has a visit, she seems to get better. Here she is at the end of her first visit with her two friends, Bayley and Suzy Q, and my friend's daughter. We all enjoy our puppy playtime!



Betty has also started reading...just kidding. But she doesn't like my mom to read when she decides it's playtime! If my mom sits on the sofa to read her book, Betty runs over to her, tries to sit on her book, scratch at her book, and if all else fails, climbs and sits on her shoulder. I caught her with my camera once.



I told my mom maybe she just wants her to read a story about dogs...

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Now...to Christmas. Betty has been having so much fun getting into the Christmas festivities. She has helped out with wrapping gifts and baking cookies. After she realized she wasn't getting any of the cookies, she took a nice nap under the tree. We like to think of her as our special present under the tree this year.



Christmas morning was so much fun. Betty got to open her gifts. After about the second gift, she got the idea that something in the wrapping paper was for her and then proceeded to think that every present (including mine) was for her. Here she is opening one gift with my mom.



Next, she got into her stocking.



Some of her Christmas gifts were "replacement gifts" - meaning that Betty had chewed through some of her favorite toys so we got her new ones. Here is one of her favorites, ball on string.



Betty also had a good time with the rest of my family for lunch on Christmas. She was a good girl and didn't bother people during the feasting. When it came time for presents, she again thought that anything wrapped was for her. Luckily she's a small dogs and I can hold her back. :)

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Here are two last pictures we wanted to share. The first is one I took of Betty and I (and she totally looks like a stuffed animal!)



Lastly, with the Rose Bowl coming up, we wanted to make clear how much Betty loves USC.



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Even though Betty wasn't exactly a Christmas gift to us, I still wanted her to pop out of a box like you see puppies do on Christmas. (Ok, so maybe that's only in the movies, but still). I made a box for her and we took a video. This one's a keeper!

The Photo Shoot

First of all, sorry for the delay in updating! Betty wants everyone to know that she is doing well.

That being said, Betty is growing quickly. She is hovering around the 7 pound mark. Right after Halloween, Betty was given her final puppy shot, meaning that she could now visit with other dogs and more humans. (The vet wanted her to get all of her shots before she was around other dogs.) As soon as that happened, we had three things in mind: 1) Betty can get grooming now! 2) Betty can play with other dogs/go to puppy school and 3) Betty can go on a walk!

I'll begin with the grooming. We found a lovely grooming place right around the corner from our house called Sandy's Grooming. She was so sweet to Betty, even though Betty was a little nervous around her. Here is a picture of scruffy Betty the night before her first grooming. She loves her little bed, which we call the Betty bed!



The next morning, my mom and I took Betty to Sandy's Grooming. Here we are about to go in.



We didn't want to cut Betty's hair too short, so she only got about 1 or 2 inches off. However, we made sure she had her hair cut around her eyes so she could see! My mom was so excited with her haircut that she decided we would take a Christmas picture of Betty that afternoon. Therefore, we had a mini photo shoot in our living room, with Betty and three Christmas stuffed animals placed on a red and white blanket. As you may imagine, it's not so easy to get a puppy to pose for you. I probably took over 100 pictures to get the perfect one with Betty in position. First, here is the favorite shot of her.



And yes, we are using it in our Christmas cards. :)

However, I thought it would also be fun to show you a couple of not-so-perfect shots. Here, Betty is about to run and jump off of the sofa.



And as the shoot dragged on, Betty began taking her frustrations out on her small cuddly bear friend.



Overall, thought, Betty was a very good girl throughout the shoot.

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Betty has also attended two puppy classes at Wags and Wiggles. She is definitely a little shy of the other people (and especially of the dogs), but she is progressing slowly. She now knows how to sit, touch my hand, and go to her mat on command. The funniest thing about going to Wags and Wiggles is the fact that Betty is shy around all of the other dogs, including those much smaller than her. In fact, we spent 10 excruciating minutes with Betty being chased by a maltipoo puppy named Phoebe who was one-third of her size (and Betty was not happy about it). We are working on the socialization thing. We have also had two play dates with Betty's new friends, Suzy Q and Bayley, who are my friend Sabrina's two yorkie dogs. They have been so nice and patient with Betty. While she was terrified to be around them the first time we visited, she slowly calmed down and began to sniff at them. During the second visit, she mingled with them right away (although still a bit guarded). She is making progress!

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Betty is now also enjoying walks around the neighborhood. My dad loves to parade her around. One day, Betty slipped out of her harness! Luckily, my dad said sit, and she just sat and looked at him. Phew! She now has a smaller harness. :)

She also enjoys car rides and visits to local stores. When I put her carrying bag down on the ground, she gets so excited and jumps right in! She has now been to Petco AND our favorite, The Container Store. She is also a favorite customer in the drive-thru of local Starbucks.

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I will hopefully get more pictures of Betty posted soon...and there are some cute ones!

Howl-o-ween for Betty

I've been asked by several people if we would dress Betty up for Halloween. Well, I guess the answer is yes and no. With Betty still a puppy and not always wanting to sit still, we figured the costume wouldn't stay on long (or would at least be chewed up.)

However, when I went to PETCO to get her the Puppy's 1st Christmas shirt, I saw that some of the Halloween stuff was on sale, including a couple of orange and black t-shirts with writing on them. I saw one and thought it was too cute to pass up. It says, "My other costume is much scarier!" I thought this was funny since there is nothing scary about Betty at all. (On that note, my dad is looking for a "Beware of Dog" for the back gate. I love it.) I also saw a little bat collar on sale and decided to get both.

So we first put the shirt on Betty and here are the pictures. The first shows the back of her shirt with the writing, and the second one shows Betty's joy at wearing the shirt. I swear Betty is saying, "Seriously? You are seriously going to make me wear this thing?"





Once Betty calmed down a little, we got her to sit on the bench between my pumpkins.



Luckily my camera works quickly because she then wanted to jump down, seen here.



We then added the bat collar to Betty. Now this was hilarious. She was trying to eat the bat eyes off. After a few minute of this, we got her to pose in the bat collar. Here she is looking up at my mom, who is trying her best to keep Betty occupied and not jump down. Funny the things you have to do to get a puppy to keep still.



And as you were looking at these pictures, you might have thought, hmmm, what are those neat USC pumpkins? Who made them? Well, they are actually called "funkins" made out of foam. My mom saw them on Martha Stewart and ordered two. I spent one night carving these and it was no easy task. Here is a nice shot of them.



In other news, I heard on the radio that there is another contest for the cutest dog, so I took a couple more shots of Betty and thought I would include them here. I need to pick by Friday. Hopefully she can be a finalist and win us some money and a trip to the Marley and Me movie premiere!

Getting Comfortable

Last week marked one month since Betty arrived in Orange County and we couldn't be happier. She has brought so much fun and love into our lives.

That being said, Betty has started to get a little more comfortable in our house, for good and for bad. :) Fairly certain that she is now potty trained, we've allowed her to walk around the house a little bit more and explore, thought most of the time we always keep our eye on her. She loves sitting near my mom's feet -- whether she's at the dining table, the computer, the sofa, etc. One time while my mom was sitting at the table and thought Betty was asleep at her feet, she heard a little scratching-like noise. She looked directly down, but it was too late. Betty was chewing on the furniture! Though my mom quickly removed her from the area, she later returned to the scene of the crime and continued her chew. Here is a picture of the chair in question:

The funny part is that she's only chewed on this particular chair and this particular leg. It's a mystery to us.

Betty is big on chewing in general. She has multiple chew toys, but still tries to chew on my mom's hand and my arm. We are trying our best to break her of the habit. She also loves to play around and chew on her toy dog, which is always funny because the dog is a little bigger than she is. Here are two pics with her and her dog: one in action and one looking up at the camera.

Betty's also gotten more comfortable around the house when resting. While she has a little bed that we call "The Betty Bed" that sits on the couch, she also likes to lay on the couch itself, especially after my mom has gotten up. She sits in my mom's spot as if she's keeping it warm for her. Here are two cute pictures of Betty on the couch.

Overall, Betty's been such a sweet, loving dog. She's a big hit at the vet's office and is much better behaved than the other dogs. She's still a little timid of new people at first, but is slowly coming around. After her next and final round of vaccines, I can finally take her on a walk and take her to puppy school! I can't wait!

In other news, Betty has a brand new friend who loves her to pieces. My dad got home from Italy last Sunday and has loved Betty ever since. Betty is still getting used to him, but she loves it when he plays with her and likes to sit on his tummy and watch soccer -- it's a match made in heaven. Here's a cute pic of the two of them.

Other exciting news -- at PETCO there is a t-shirt for dogs that says "Puppy's First Christmas." You better believe I'm going to get it for her! The only problem is that I don't know what size to get yet. When we went to the vet on Friday, Betty had gained almost a pound in one month! Hopefully I can guess and purchase the correct size for her. The shirt is too cute to pass up!

Five pounds!

Betty has passed the 5 pound mark! Huzzah! We visited the vet yesterday and Betty got her first shots (while she's been with us.) I think it hurt me more than it hurt her. She was so good though! No noise, no crying, no nothing. After the shot and the nose drops, she was stuck to me like glue, with her head burrowed into my neck. Hopefully I made her feel secure somehow.

After visiting the vet, we made a quick trip to Petco to find a collar for Betty. We had already bought a harness for her, but it's still too small for her at this point! We also got her a small id tag. I've heard mixed things about putting the pet's name vs. the owner's name on the id tag. I thought about it and decided to put "Betty White" on her tag. That way, if a person saw her and read her tag, they might think she was the real Betty White's dog and would definitely want to return her since they would probably get a reward. Good logic, ehh?

We went over to visit my aunt and uncle last night and Betty was so well behaved. She made her first canine friend, Honey, the maltese/bichon mix that lives next door to my aunt. While Betty and Honey just sniffed at each other at first, eventually Honey (who is about 6 months old), barked at Betty to play with her, and that was too much for Betty. She tried to hide behind me until Honey stopped barking. I'm sure when Betty is a little bit bigger, they will be great friends.

So in my previous post I lied. Not on purpose, of course, but I did. The gift from Auntie Lindsay was not the Betty's first gift. It was actually a special gift from Texas from Auntie Amy. However, because Betty is still a little too small for the gift, I had put it upstairs and forgot to take her picture with it. So this week I got it out to show Betty and it was a big hit. It says, "Woof y'all!" Here she is looking at it (and trying to get a hold of it) while my mom holds onto it.

So Auntie Amy, Betty says thank you and is excited to eat her Texas-sized treat as soon as she can!

Overall, Betty has still been a very good little girl. One thing she did try to do, though, is dig through our small little garden. My mom and I knew we couldn't keep her out of the garden ourselves too much longer, so I decided to build a small fence. Yes, you heard me right. We went to home depot, bought the supplies, and spent one evening building the fence. Here is a picture of it.

I think it's very nice, if I do say so myself.

In other news, for my birthday, my aunt gave me a small stuffed animal that looked like Betty. Here is a comparison shot:

They look very similar, don't they? Of course, in her puppy chewing stage, Betty wanted to eat her Betty, Jr.

To close this entry, I wanted to include some especially cute pictures of Betty. I'm thinking about putting one in the dog picture contest the OC Register is running.

The REAL Betty White...

Just had to share this...

I was looking at the TV Guide and I saw, to my amazement, that the real Betty White was going to be on Ellen this afternoon celebrating her 60 years in showbusiness. So, naturally, I woke Betty up from her nap to see her namesake on TV. We sat closer to the TV and my mom took a picture of us watching it. In this picture, you can see that my Betty clearly is intrigued by and feels a connection with Betty White.

In other news, Betty received her first gift (well, other than the ones my mom and I buy her) from her Auntie Lindsay in St. Louis. Here she is learning her ABCs with the blocks Lindsay sent.

Betty arrives!

*Sorry I couldn't get this updated sooner. The last couple of days have been crazy.*

Betty finally arrived on Monday night! She flew in on an Alaska Airlines flight from Boise and arrived at LAX at 7:25pm. My mom and I, anxious to see our new pup, arrived at the cargo place we were supposed to pick her up around 7:35, which was definitely early. We waited in the small lobby of the cargo pick up, watching various packages arrive, including live tropical fish and fish eggs. The people there said they knew she came in, but there was another dog that had to be picked up, so the worker took a little longer. So we waited...and waited...and waited, turning our heads at every noise.

Then, all of a sudden, we see a cart come in with two animal crates on it. My mom said, "There she is! There she is!" and then the cart turned and we could see her head on. It was truly love at first sight. For all of you who watch Sex and the City, I felt like Charlotte in the series finale when Harry shows her the picture of her adopted daughter-to-be and says, "That's her. That's our baby." It was just like that. I was like, "That's my baby!" and, so overwhelmed with emotion, I almost started crying. But don't worry...I didn't. I was a big girl.

So then we got her home (I drove as fast as I could) and I put her little crate on the patio. I opened the gate, put my hand in, and pet her. She seemed to appreciate that. I opened the door all the way and said, "Come on, Betty! Come on out!" (She was already recognizing her name, which was great!) She got a little nervous about coming out of her crate. She would poke her head out, but then run back in. Here's two pictures of her in her crate.

Finally, after a little coaxing, she let me pick her up and take her out. I thought she would want to walk around a bit, but she came right over to me a wanted to nuzzle her nose in my arm. She then let me hold her for a bit. Here's the first time I got to hold her. So small!

When I put her back down on the ground, she ran back in the little cage. I thought she would have to go to the bathroom, so I put a piddle pad on the ground, and she went to it right away! Such a good girl!

Since it was already kind of late and I had to get up early in the morning, we got her crate ready next to my bed. I took her upstairs, got her in her crate, and she cried a little when I got up to use the bathroom. But when I came back and was reading, she was as calm as can be. That first night, she did wake me up crying a couple of times, but she always calmed down after I talked to her and let her smell and lick my hand. I would wake up during the night and she was just looking at me, head titled to the side and wagging her tail. I kept thinking that I felt so bad for her...she must have been scared in this new place!

I woke up and looked in her crate. She hadn't gone potty in there...good girl! I ran her downstairs and she went potty after a few minutes (and she hasn't had one accident...yet.) During the day, I bring the crate downstairs and in the middle of the house, so she can see my mom wherever she is. Here are some pics of Betty in her crate (and she loves Teddy's old toys -- she even sleeps laying on top of them or cuddled next to them!)

So far, she's been great! She's in a chewing stage, so she likes to play with this small soccer ball.

We take her to the vet tomorrow. Tonight we're going to Petco to get more chew toys, so she'll get to go on her first outing. She also had visitors last night (Sabrina and Elayna) and will meet my grandparents and uncle tonight. She's quite popular! So far, she's been really easy, but as I know, it's only been two days and she's a precocious puppy.