Twinsies

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm kind of crazy about my dog. I wouldn't mind having another greyhound so Dillan would have some company while we're gone, but our resources (small apt., no yard, time/monetary limitations, etc) prevent us from expanding our family to include another puppy.  Also, Dillan really does seem quite content being the object of our affection.

But look at who I found!!! Dillan's twin, who happens to go by the name Dylan! Can you believe it, they are  identical even down to their name!

Nathan, can we have him?!?

"FLYING LARCHMONT"

Dylan as we are calling this handsome boy is 3 years old.  He has tested cat and small dog friendly and seems to love everyone.

Dylan  is currently settling into foster care and will let us know his likes and dislikes.  He has excellent house manners and crates well.  No need to mention what a sweet boy he is as one look into those eyes and you can see the sweetness just flowing.

Fostered by Mike & Randall in the Tri Cities area

Small Animal Friendly:  Yes

Status:  Available"

Source: greyhoundrescue.org

Compared to our puppy:

Same spots and freckles. Oh, they must become brothers!

Sir, I believe you are Mistaken...

For some odd reason, people commonly mistake Dillan for an "Italian Greyhound."  In my pride I want to say, "actually, he's the real deal. Full blown Greyhound." But I don't. I accept the fact that the people on our walks are at least complimenting Dillan on his extreme good looks and move on. 

However, that doesn't mean that I can't help you guys understand. 

don't have a source... : (

Greyhound = big guy in the back

Whippet = medium guy in the middle

Italian = little guy in the front 

So you see, there's a big difference between a teeny Italian Greyhound and a Greyhound. I guess "Italian Greyhound" sounds fancier, and Dillan is a very fancy dog. I mean all he needs is a bowtie.

(note to self, buy Dillan a bowtie) 
(note to self, buy Dillan a top hat) 

 What do you guys think? I'm thinking super classy.

Concerning Christmas

Hello Readers! We had a great time visiting my family this past weekend. It of course included food, pajamas, laughter, knitting (like a fiend I might add), movies, food, gifts, and oogling at my super cute neice. 

So, here's a little picture wrap up of the weekend.

Blog world, meet Douglas.

Douglas is our 5 year old Douglas Fir sapling.  At first we weren't going to do the whole Christmas tree thing because a. we weren't at our apt. on Christmas, b. we don't want to invest in tree trimmings, and c. we don't want to store tree trimmings.  But Douglas is the exception. he just looked so little and cute at the tree farm, how could I resist? I like Douglas, a lot. He's pretty much the best Charlie Brown tree ever. And I'm going to do my best to keep him alive for a while. Repotting him and such until we have somewhere to plant him. 
Thanks to my dad, he now resides in a glavanized bucket. Inspired by this:

Source: via pinterest

 

Remember how I mentioned I was really trying to fix a bow on Dillan's head. Here's my attempt caught on camera. And Nathan's foot. And clutter. And messiness.   We keep it real people.

Here we are at my parent's house. We found a pair of reindeer antlers, so naturally we put them on Dillan. And he tolerated it long enough to snap a few photos. I think this one is profile pic worthy...

Dragon puppy. That's all.  Rawwwwrrrrr.

And this is how we spent Christmas day. In a new sweater and pajama pants. And Dillan lying on my legs. Merry Christmas puppy. He so enjoyed that x-large greenie. Which, btw, we got a Petsmart gift card (thanks Leah!!), so Dillan just might be getting a few more of those soon.

I hope you all had a great Christmas day too!

Dillan's Kindred

Nathan and I joke about how similar to a deer our dog is.

     - He curls into a little ball like Bambi.

     - His long legs and sleek physique.

     - His doe eyes.

Well this morning we rounded the corner of the apartment building to see 5 deer. We immediately froze. Dillan was enamored. I'm not sure if it's because he thought "These are my people" or "I bet I could catch one," but we didn't move for about 5 minutes.

The deer were frozen too.  All staring back at us. I couldn't tell whether there were any bucks or fawns because it was so dark (a detail for my Dad). Two were definitely shorter.

Finally one deer turned and pranced off and the others followed. So did we. Dillan and I ran down the little hill and back behind the next set of apartments to see the deer squeezing through a little gap between the fences and on into a wide open field.

In other news, while wrapping Christmas gifts we tried to put a bow on Dillan's head. While putting the bow on his tiny head he gave us puppy eyes, literally wanting us to know "why???". Then just when we were ready to grab a camera, he'd shake it off. Oh well, we'll try again Sunday.

Also, we took our annual trip to Asheville to visit the Grove Park Inn gingerbread houses. Here's one of my favorites.

Merry Christmas Dillan. You met your real family.  Your real gift will be a giant Greenie.

And I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas weekend. What are your plans?

Hunger Strike

Last night I made this tasty soup.  It's really easy and super tasty, and with the hubs out of town it will make an easy microwavable dinner for me. He might be a little sad that I made it without him.

source again

Anyway, so this recipe includes a rotisserie chicken. As any good dog mom I gave Dillan some chicken as I was shredding it into the soup. I try to sometimes only put his treats in his dog bowl so that he doesn't beg. Because Dillan's first experience with living with people, aka being spoiled, was with us he hasn't really figured out things like begging and lounging on furniture. And we'd like to keep it that way.

Well the second I brought groceries in, Dillan was there sniffing the chicken, knowing there was some good stuff in the bags. I gave him his normal helping of dog food and placed a little chicken on top. He grabbed the chicken and took it to the living room to inhale.

He came back in the kitchen and stared at me.

I resisted.

He stared at me.

I turned my back and continued to shred chicken.

He stared.

I cried. 

He stared.

I gave in, giving him all of the chicken skin.  He pretty much swallowed it whole. 

And we played the staring game again until I was finished with the soup and went to eat my supper.

On my route to the table I passed dillan's dog bowl still completely filled with dry dog food. Meaning he hadn't touched the stuff. 

He is on a hunger strike until he gets more rotisserie chicken...

I must stay strong!

The Way the Dill Pico lays (ongoing series)

Didn't I say that this would be a weekly type post? Yes, I did. As promised here is a Dill Pico pic (hehe pico pic...). 

This is pretty par for the course. For whatever reason he loves to lie with his whole body on the pillow and is head on the floor... Perhaps it has something to do with his giraffe neck. Oh yeah, and he's lazy.

Dillan Shreds and so does Nathan

Dillan has been doing his best the past few days to prove he is a puppy.  Nope, not a 4.5 year old retired racing dog, but in fact a puppy.  

I have been doing little the past few days to discourage this.  Here are the results:

Shredded Tube (out of the empty aluminum foil box)...

This tube ended up in slobbery pieces on the carpet. And I knew it would. So I took it away. I know, no fun mom. That's me. 

Shredded Duck.
We weren't even sure if he liked the Duck. But a few days ago he decided he really liked the rope tail. Seriously, he sat down and worked, and in about 5 minutes he had sawn the tail in half.

The damage done. Tail halved.

Still chewing the tail.

Oh yeah, what's that?

 Nathan has also been doing his fair share of shredding.

Check out his bands cover of "Carol of the Bells" to put you in the Christmas Spirit. And while you're there go ahead and like them on facebook!

Face Melting Carol of the Bells

Happy Monday. What are your puppies shredding?

This is how we cuddle...

In the evenings I like to snuggle up on the couch to watch my shows. This calls for comfy pants, toasty socks, and the granny quilt. Dillan lays at my feet with his head twisted back. Just waiting to get pets and scratches. He's trained us well.

Those ears. I can't handle it.

I used to be a soccer player

I grew up playing soccer pretty much year round. Especially in high school. Travel, indoor, school...

Then I got to college and played intramural soccer or just a friendly game with friends.

But sadly, my soccer days are over, and I had one last nostalgic item that kept me hanging on to those past days of soccer glory...My Adidas Sambas. Oh, the sambas. How I loved thee. Let me count the ways,

   1. If you have Sambas you understand.

   2. If you don't you won't.
   3. That's pretty much it.

Aren't they beautiful?

Why am I taking this walk down memory lane? Well, the shoes have to be retired (trashed). Wah!!! After months of dodging puppy poo (our apartments have about 10 other dogs) I finally stepped right into a landmine, and what was I wearing, my beloved Adidas Sambas.

I've had those babies since 7th or 8th grade! I bought a boy size (because they don't make awesome soccer shoes for girls...) And they've fit for what, 12 or 13 years! Well, Dad, it looks like you definitely got your money's worth from that investment.

And I wore them almost every shift of my short hostessing job at Carrabbas. Forget unsupportive and uncomfortable black flats! You better believe I sharpied in those 3 majestic white lines!

Anyway, RIP Sambas. You were good to me.

The Way the Dill Pico Lays (ongoing series)

It's high time for another edition of "The way the Dill Pico Lays". (lies...)

Perhaps I should make this a everyday Monday Post? What do you think? Any clever title names?

Anyway. After a good nap Dillan will stretch out his legs, rotate, and then stay like this from anywhere between 15 seconds to five minutes. He's weird...

Additional dillan sleeping positions.