Busy Weekend

"Oh, Mom...."

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend much time with Justin and the girls this weekend because I stayed pretty busy.  I spent all day Saturday (from about 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM) running back and forth between photo shoots for a 2013 calendar I’ve been putting together all year and a really cute vintage store downtown called Finds and Designs, for whom I sometimes photograph local models wearing their latest vintage clothing arrivals.  Don’t get me wrong, all of my photo shoots that day were SUPER fun, but after lugging around my 50-pound camera bag all day, I was EXHAUSTED by the time I got back to Justin’s parents’ house.  There was no rest for the weary, however, because we still needed to clean the house and pack up all our stuff so that we’d be ready to leave when his parents returned from the beach that evening. 

Hanging with Uncle Zach and Aunt Kristy

Yesterday, Kristy, Mandee, Susie, and I all drove to Charleston to watch Kristy try on wedding dresses, and then we grabbed a late lunch.  That was also a lot of fun, but by the time we returned home around 6:00 PM, I was exhausted yet again and ended up crashing on the couch for a 2-hour nap!  I woke up just in time to be able to quickly straighten up the living room and run the vacuum before Zach and Kristy came over to watch Boardwalk Empire.  Then, as soon as the show was over and they left, I still had to finish editing the photos I shot for Finds and Designs the day before because I knew they were probably hoping that I would have the photos uploaded to their Facebook page that night.   I finally got the photos finished and uploaded around 11:30 PM.

Sam and Margot playing tug

Needless to say, I don’t really feel like I had much of a weekend, but at least it was full of things that were fun, and even though I didn’t get to play with Margot much, I still got plenty of cuddles from her each night when I got home.   Not only that, but she and Sam played SO MUCH this weekend!  I feel like I keep repeating this, but it truly is remarkable how much Sam’s attitude has changed towards Margot.  I love watching Sam play more than anything.  Saturday morning, I managed to snap a photo of them playing tug with one of Margot’s toys, which Sam occasionally used to do with Lexie and her stuffed animals.  I almost cried.  (Almost.)

As for Miss Margot, she is such a little snaggle-tooth right now!  I took a couple photos of her teeth last night because it’s just too funny.  In the top photo, I can see one of her adult teeth is starting to come in on the top row.  She’s growing up so fast!!!



Margot the Snaggle-Tooth



14-Week Progress Report



Margot is 14 weeks-old today!   Justin and I are so excited for her 16-week birthday that her birthdays feel like they can’t come fast enough right now, although I’m certain that feeling will change dramatically after she’s finally 16 weeks-old.  (Our vet recommended that we not allow Margot to go for walks, play in the park, or socialize with other dogs until after she’s 16 weeks-old because that’s when she’ll be fully vaccinated.)



14 weeks-old!



As far as a 14-week progress report goes, Margot has been a little out of her element this week due to the fact that we’ve been house-sitting for Justin’s parents, but I do have a few things to report.  For one, Margot has officially lost at least four teeth, but probably more.  Her biting has increased somewhat, but we understand it’s because she’s teething, and her biting is still pretty easy to correct with redirections.  She’s going through Nylabones so fast right now, though!  In fact, that just reminded me that I need to pick her up a new one tonight….

Another bit of progress that I’m able to officially report now is the fact that Margot and Sam have finally learned how to get along!  In fact, I think Sam has even become rather fond of little Margot.  She genuinely seems to enjoy playing with her, and we’ve even seen Sam initiate their playtimes on several occasions.   In fact, Sam and Margot spend so much time playing together in the evenings now that it sort of feels like Sam is our babysitter.  I used to come home from work, let Margot out of her crate and take her outside, and then basically spend the rest of the evening sitting in the living room floor playing with her.  Now, after I’ve come home from work and taken Margot outside, I end up watching Sam and Margot play for a little while before I start doing dishes, editing photos, or doing something else productive while they play. 

On one hand, it’s nice no longer having to devote 100% of my time and energy to keeping Margot entertained and distracted from pestering Sam every evening, but on the other hand, it actually makes me kind of sad.  The time I used to spend playing with Margot after work was a great bonding experience for us, and I always felt very close to her whenever she’d flop repeatedly into my lap with a toy and insist that I play with her.  We haven’t done that in about a week, though, and I really miss it, but I’m hoping our playtimes will resume at least a little bit once we’re back home.  Fortunately, Justin and I still get our Margot cuddle time whenever she winds down every evening just before bed, which is actually my favorite time with her because she’s SO sweet when she’s sleepy.  



Cuddling with Lexie by the fire (I miss this so much)



Another little thing I want to mention is the fact that the weather is starting to turn colder at night and in the early mornings, and in true Dobe fashion, little Margot has started shivering and trying to snuggle whenever she’s cold.  (Dobermans are known for being very cold-blooded, particularly because of their thin coats.)  I cannot tell you how much this makes me miss Lexie, as she was the Queen of Snuggles every winter.  In fact, every fall I would get really excited about the fact that it was almost time to snuggle with Lexie under the blankets and by the fire.  She would paw at the blanket and nudge it with her nose until you’d cover her up, and as soon as she got under that blanket she’d let out a looooong moan of contentment.   (Oh, Lou….I miss you so much.)



Anyway, last night Margot’s “aunties” (Kristy, Susie, and Mandee) all came over to drink wine and have a little girls’ night out on the porch.  Margot was extremely well behaved and spent the majority of the evening just sitting on the sofa with me.  As it got colder, I thought I felt her shiver a little bit, so I covered her with the blanket that was on my lap.  At first, she didn’t really understand what was happening and immediately uncovered herself, but when I covered her up a second time, I guess she suddenly realized how much warmer it was underneath the blanket, and she was perfectly content staying there.  I have a feeling Margot is going to enjoy laying by the fireplace this winter, too.  :)

Margot has been performing “lie down” more consistently, and as soon as she turns 16 weeks-old, we will be enrolling her in a group obedience class at the Animal Care Clinic, where she’ll learn even more commands, like “come,” “stay,” etc., which I am very excited about.  Not to brag or anything, but I have a feeling that Margot will be one of the star pupils in her class, as she already impresses everyone with her good behavior, like at the Chili Fest last weekend. 

Yes, I think it’s safe to say that Justin and I are pretty proud of our little girl.  :)

A Fun Evening with the "Aunties"

I have forgotten to mention in previous posts that, at Margot’s last check-up, Dr. Ellis informed us that she should not be playing with other dogs or going for walks until she is fully vaccinated, because the Parvo virus can live in the ground for up to a year.  Therefore, it’s just prudent not to expose young puppies to too many unfamiliar environments or other dogs until they’ve received all of their shots.  The sad thing is that Margot won’t be fully vaccinated until she’s 16 weeks-old, which is still six weeks away!  So, we haven’t been taking her for walks around the neighborhood like we had been, which I have suspected is part of the reason why she’s been so crazy this week.

Last night, I decided to take Margot over to my friend, Susie’s, house to play because I know for sure that Susie’s house and yard are Parvo-free (Margot has already been over to her house once before and never got sick).  I don’t know what it is about Susie’s back yard, but Margot just LOVES to romp and play back there!  She especially loves to jump in and out of the thick, grassy plants that line Susie’s gravel walkway.   I also knew that Margot and Susie’s cat, Pete, seemed to get along pretty well during our last visit, so I was hoping that Margot would actually have a little playmate for the evening.   In addition, I thought Sam and Jocie might appreciate having a few puppy-free hours at the house.

Margot and Susie played in the back yard for a while, then Mandee and Kristy came over, and we all ordered pizza.  As we ate our pizza outside on the deck, Margot continued to play and explore on her own for a while.  I loved watching her have so much fun.  She especially seemed interested in sitting in Mandee’s lap, which I thought was adorable.  She could probably smell Mandee’s St. Bernard, Atticus, on her dress, although Mandee does adore Margot and showers her with attention, so I’m not surprised at all that Margot likes her so much.

After a couple of hours outside, we decided to go inside to watch a movie.  I crossed my fingers that Margot and Pete would get along as well as they did last time, and to my pleasant surprise, they actually ended up playing the whole time we watched the movie.  Well…by “playing” I mean that they would take turns stalking and chasing each other from room to room, but that’s pretty much how one would expect a cat and a dog to play together.  At first, I was a little worried that Margot might have just been bothering Pete, but on a couple of occasions Margot took a break from Pete in order to join us girls on the couch, and within minutes Pete would come creeping around the side of the couch to see where Margot had gone.  So, it seemed like Pete was enjoying their little game of “Stalk and Chase,” but then again, I’ve never been an expert on cats. 

Her first battle scar.

Margot had only one little mishap while we were at Susie’s.  Mandee took Margot outside after she noticed that Margot had started sniffing around inside the house.  Once Margot was outside again, she got so excited that she tried to run down the stairs and into the back yard, but she clumsily tumbled down a couple steps and fell head-first into the bricks that line the gravel walkway.  Mandee said that Margot immediately got up, shook it off, and continued playing, but now Margot has a little spot on her nose where the brick actually scraped off a bit of fur.  I hate that her tumble left a mark, but at the same time I actually think it’s kind of cute.  After all, what kid doesn’t have at least one cut or scrape on their little body?  Besides, Margot thankfully wasn’t hurt, and I’m sure the fur will grow back eventually.

As for Jocie, I’m starting to believe that the majority of her problem is just Margot.  She tolerated her for the first couple of weeks, but I wonder if all of a sudden the realization just sunk in that “this puppy isn’t just here for a visit, she’s here to stay?”   The reason why I think a large part of Jocie’s problem has to do with Margot is because she almost refuses to be anywhere near the puppy right now.  She stayed upstairs all day and night yesterday.  She even peed in our bedroom because she refused to come downstairs.  Thankfully, Jocie is still eating and drinking, although she still isn’t eating anywhere near as much as she used to. 

This morning, after I let Margot and Sam out and Sam went back upstairs, I heard Jocie come down to the first landing in the stairway.  I encouraged her to come down, but she just stood there looking at me and Margot through the railing.  She must have really had to use the bathroom, though, because after a while she went down another couple of steps.  Once again, though, she just stood there staring while I coaxed her to come down.  Finally, I decided to pick up Margot off the floor, and as soon as I did, Jocie came all the way downstairs and went outside to use the bathroom.  It was like she was being hesitant about coming downstairs because she was dreading having Margot “attack” her as soon as she got to the bottom. 

So, while Jocie was outside, I shut the back door to the kitchen and took Margot upstairs to hang out in the bathroom with me while I got ready.   After I was ready for work and put Margot back in her crate, I went out into the bar to check on Jocie (our kitchen door leads into the bar, which has a sliding glass door that leads out onto the back deck).  Sure enough, I found Jocie lying behind the bar.  I decided to let her spend the day out there today, so I got her food and water bowls and put them behind the bar with her.  As I sat there petting her for a few minutes, I noticed that her left eye looks a bit swollen today.  So, after talking with Justin, I’ve decided to call the vet today and see if I can just drop Jocie off in the morning to be examined.  Again, I kind of doubt Jocie’s eye problem is related to her strange behavior and decreased appetite lately, but I’m anxious to hear Dr. Ellis’ opinion tomorrow.  I just hope that none of this is serious.