The Grinch

Tucker can never escape a Christmas without dressing up and getting a picture taken. As you can tell from the picture, he is not impressed! Oh well, I still think that he looks cute.

And the Decorating Begins!

As Christmas is my favorite time of year I always go a little overboard with decorating. It can get a little crowded in the house but it doesn't really matter to me!

This is a picture of Santa from Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer on my upstairs carpet. He did not originate there as he was placed under one of the trees downstairs along with the other stuffed characters. Somehow when we leave the house, one of the characters end up upstairs! This happens almost everytime we leave. They are never wrecked, just moved. Some of them now have a permanent place upstairs...it must be the Chistmas Spirit playing games with us!

Our Little Devil

Upon unpacking the Halloween stuff I came across Tuckers costumes. He also has a clown costume and an angel costume, but I think that this one suits him best! He even has the scary eyes!

Tucker....Part Bird

We try not allow Tucker on the furniture but when we are not home he roams the house and loves to sleep on the love seat by the front window. This blanket is always hanging on the back of the love seat and he ALWAYS takes it down. After I got home from work today I noticed that he managed to arrange the blanket in a perfect circle. I know he does this in his bed, but have never seen him do this anywhere else. Who knows maybe he has tried and never been successful! I would love to take a video to see what he does when we are not arround.

How Much is That Doggy in the Window?

When Shayne worked in Fort Sask he always took the Durango because it was the closest distance (He took the bus and the stop was only a few blocks away). The Durango is really hard on gas so we try to drive the car majority of the time. However, since he got his new job we are both drive the same distance everyday. We decided that we would alternate months with the vehicle that we take. This month it is my turn to take the Durango which is parked right in front of our house. The first day I pulled up to the house and was really surprised to see Tucker siting on the top of the couch watching through the curtains. He sits there like this until we gather all of our things and come in the house! He does this everyday faithfully and it sure is a great way to be welcomed home!

The Old Apartment

My sister Angie and her kids came on Wednesday to spend some time with me in Calgary. The first day they were here we swam in the hotel pool and then went to Canmore for some ice cream. The little kids have never seen the mountains so they were in awe. Before we left we took the scary drive up the mountain ( the nordic court road) so that they could really appreciate how big the mountain was. I kinda chuckled when Izabella said, " I think that I am a little bit scared Mommy"!
On Thursday morning I had an appointment at the clinic and everything appears to be moving along. The new dose is working fine and the follicles are increasing in size. It does look like the retrieval date will need to be moved though. Who knows, things change daily!

After my appointment at the clinic we all went to the zoo. It rained a little, but it was good because it was not that busy. We walked for over 3 hours to get through the zoo and we really did not cover everything. The Calgary zoo is one big zoo for sure.

When we were done at the zoo Angie and the kids went home and I decided to stop at our old apartment. Considering the house that we have now it is hard to imagine that we ever lived here! Our apartment was the one on the top left hand side. It was less than 600 square feet and we could not even fit a kitchen table in it. Money was not plentiful back then and this is what we could afford. We did have some good times here and this is Tuckers first home. We did not keep him here long though as he has to much energy for a little apartment!

Brain Damage?

The only type of toy that Tucker does not chew apart is one that is made by the company who makes kongs. Every other "indestructible" toy does not stand a chance with Tucker. His toys include an original kong, a "yellow" ( which is a dumbbell type toy) and a couple of balls. Every time we see something new that has Kong on it we have to buy it for him. We saw this soother toy and of course we knew that Tucker would love it. The only problem is that it is really heavy on one side and we are afraid that Tucker is going to get brain damage ( see video) ! Another problem that we are having is that we always name the toys so that he knows which one to get and we don't really want to refer to it as a soother, any suggestions?

The Spoiled Dog Tucker

My sister did not have her kids this weekend so Tucker got spoiled. He ate like a king, whatever he wanted. He had steak, hot dogs, smokies and I am sure alot of other food that Shayne and I did not see. I think one day he had some dog food, but that is about it. All of us played non stop with him and we eventually tired him out! YES WE TIRED TUCKER OUT! He was the center of attention all weekend long.

Why is my Bed in the Storage Room?

While Shayne was looking for his old Nintendo stuff, we decided to do some cleaning in the storage room at the same time. We have Tuckers old bed in the storage room which we take outside in the summer while we have a fire. If we don't take it outside with us, he drives us crazy wanting to sit on our lap. Well, when we finished piling everything in the storage room, in comes Tucker. He discovers his old bed ( which is on top of an old end table), jumps in it and lays down right away. He almost looked confused as to why his bed was in the storage room. Well then, you think that we could get him out? We had bribe him with a treat to get him out! Funny how they remember things like that!

Time for a Bath

Tucker hates having a bath. If we turned our heads while he was in the tub he would be gone. Right after he is dried off he tears around the house in a frenzy. In this picture he is just dying for Shayne to let go of him.

Is it.........that season yet?

Everytime we all use that letter to refer to that season, a big blizzard happens. So now it has to be refered to as "that season" !
Tucker loves to lay in the sun on warm days and he will stay on the deck for hours. I just leave him there until he finds a bird or something to bark at! Shayne and I were really surprised this afternoon that he chose to stay outside. It must be warm!

My Smart Dog

Its amazing what Tucker will do for a carrot. When we first found out about his allergies, we used carrots and ice cubes for treats so he really thinks that he is getting something really special! I think that this is all of his tricks, did I leave any out Shayne? Normally he catches the carrot in mid air, but he missed this time.

I Am Confused

Tucker is still adjusting to me working, but at least now I don't have a coax him to get out of bed. However, this last Friday was a little different. Shayne does not normally work Fridays, so he was sleeping when I left for work. I just left the dog in bed as I normally do if Shayne is sleeping. I came back into our room to change because I was not happy with my outfit. When I looked at Tucker he was actually standing in his bed waiting for me to let him out and he looked like he was wondering why I didn't let him out! I guess that I am going to have to let him out on Fridays as well!

Don't Turn Your Back.....

We keep Tuckers food in this container to help with freshness. We buy these 4 kg bags and then just refill this container as needed. However, look what happens when you don't pay attention! We are not sure how much he got, but he would eat until it was not physically possible anymore. He didn't get sick, so it could not have been that much!

Big Crash

While I was posting my last blog on Tuesday, I heard this big crash. I of course did not know where it came from and I became very frightened. The dog started barking and so I do what I always do and sent him to find what is wrong. I always just ask him, " What was that? Go find it" and he will run around until he finds what is wrong. This particular time he stopped right in between the spare bedroom and the guest bathroom. I stood there for a second wondering if I should open the doors, afraid of what might be behind them. I took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door and...nothing. I checked the closet to make sure...and there was nothing there. So then I opened the bathroom door and found this!! All it was is the shower curtain rod fell down and broke! I was very thankful that it was only a rod and can easily be replaced. What would I do without Tucker?

Crazy Dog Eyes

I originally took this picture because I actually tired out Tucker with his ball. However, I am posting it here because I spent a fair amount of time researching how to fix his eyes. The red eye reduction on the camera doesn't work for him. I also tried to use the red eye reduction in one of those photoshop programs, but that didn't work either. The only way that I found how to do it is in photoshop using layers and drawing it in. This is just wayyyyy beyond me, so I was wondering if there are any simple ways to take care of this?

Tucker's Toy

Tucker is a very active dog and he loves to play with his toys. He constantly brings them to you and then sets them in your lap to play with and he will play for hours. If you don't play with him ( as in this picture) he will give you those puppy eyes and nudge the toy more towards you. We have tried other options to aleviate his energy such as frizzbee, the laser, remote control cars, and I even taught him how to play hide and seek! I wonder if he will ever slow down.

Happy New Year from Tucker to everyone!! He just had to try on the hat when we got home and he looks sooo impressed doesn't he?