Happy Halloween from Mojo

Mojo may have been a little devil this year, but he wasn't happy about owning up to it. Or maybe it's just the hat?

Kisses

The hubby and I always give the kids kisses before we leave: goodbye kisses before we head off to work, etc. We usually kiss Mojo and Katie on the forehead and then leave.

Katie is sometimes sly and tries not to get her kiss.

But today Mojo had a surprise for us.

This morning I went to take Mojo downstairs while Matt slept in. Instead of bounding down the stairs like he usually does, he jumped on the bed and gave Matt a big fat kiss on the forehead before he went downstairs. A kiss goodbye kiss—how sweet!

Cat fight

Our kids like to fight. Guess who usually wins.

Salad Thief

Last night I made pasta for dinner. I decided to make some salad while the noodles were boiling. When the salads were done I went ahead and put them at the table. When I brought a bottle of salad dressing to the table a few minutes later, I found the cat pulling a leaf out of one of the salads, gnawing on it.

Apparently, she wanted salad too.

Lunch Break Mud Puddle

Usually my lunch breaks are spent at my desk eating leftover, half-surfing facebook and half working and answering phone calls.

Last Tuesday, however, I had to go home for Mojo. Matt usually takes care of the dog but couldn't that day, so I actually left the office.

I went to take Mojo on his normal lunch time walk. We passed his girlfriend's house and he drug me straight to her door. (He tries to get her to notice him so her person will let her out). He made such a fuss that she started barking and her owner came to the door (lunch in hand) and decided to let them play.

We went to his backyard and since it had recently monsooned I tried to steer the dogs away from the muddy parts of the yard. I yelled at them every time they ran through the mud because I didn't want Mojo tracking mud in the house. It was going well and it was about time to head home when Mojo headed to his favorite spot behind some flower bushes and plopped down on some pine straw and started chewing on some leaves. I went over to get the leaves/sticks/whatever he was eating out of his mouth, when I realized the pine straw he had flopped on was very thinly covering some very slimy red mud.

He had in essence plopped down stomach-first in a mud puddle to happily chew on sticks and leaves.

It was definitely time to leave so I clipped his leash (which was covered in mud) on and practically dragged him home. Only when we got to the house I didn't know what to do.

His paws were fairly muddy but when I reached down to his belly, I got a handful mud so I couldn't really let him inside. I sprinted inside long enough to grab some paper towels and then went back outside.

I considered hosing him off outside, but thought that would likely make a bigger mess. So instead I wiped his paws as clean as possible with the paper towels and led him upstairs to the bathroom.

He made a break for it when I went to close the bathroom door. I still had his leash on it, but he went running around the bedroom. When I caught him, he firmly planted his haunches on the ground and did not want to be led to the bathroom. He gave me a stubborn look and wouldn't budge.

I managed to pull his leash so hard his collar came off, so he made another break for it. I yelled at him and maybe he got the idea that we really weren't playing. He was trying to hide in his bed and he really had nowhere to go, so I reached down and picked him up. That totally surprised him.

I lugged him to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind us.

He just stared at the door willing it to open.

I ran some warm bath water. When it was the perfect temperature, I picked him up and after a struggle got him in the tub.

Once he was in, he just stood in the bath and smiled. He didn't fight at all. He just let me wash him. And since it was my lunch break, I didn't give him the full bath with his puppy shampoo, I just used water, a wash cloth and only cleaned his legs and belly—just where it was dirty.

When he was done I got out of the tub. I wanted to see what he would do and he just stayed standing the tub. I called him to come and he got out. He shook off and then got towel dried. (He really likes being towel dried).

After he got in the tub it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Maybe those two trips to the groomer helped, or maybe the water was fun?

We went downstairs and he got lots of treats and just smile, smiled until I left to go back to work.

Not four pounds anymore

3 months old (above)

4 months old (above)

5 months old (above)

Our handsome guy at 15 months.

Mojo went to the vet today. Usually he likes the vet, and has to give EVERYONE a kiss before he leaves. Seriously, the receptionist, the vet techs, they all get kisses when he makes he rounds.

Not today, though. He got three shots, they drew blood and he really didn't like having to give them a stool sample.

Matt said he yelped for that last part.

The vet also weighed him (isn't the vet scale so cool?) and Mojo isn't the four-pound teddy bear we brought home last August. Now he's 59 pounds.

Family pix

Family portrait

Mojo sure is a happy guy

Wardrobe change

I never thought getting a dog would prompt me to change my wardrobe, but it did.

I brought home baby Mojo as an eight-week-old puppy over a year ago. Potty-training meant trips outside every three hours or so. The dog would yelp that he had to go and then you sprinted outside as fast as you could—no time to fix your hair, brush your teeth or put on a non-sleep-rumpled shirt. This also meant that it was usually me taking the dog out—not Matt who wouldn’t have time to get dressed.

If we lived in a house with a yard, taking the dog out wouldn’t be a problem. However, we live in a townhome in pretty close quarters with our neighbors and I found that the worse I was dressed on any given trip outside the more likely it would be for me to run into a neighbor.
In a ratty camisole and too-small shorts? The neighbor would be taking her dog out too and want to chat. In a paint-splattered tee and sweatpants? The dog would seek out a neighbor and want to play.

It’s a young neighborhood, so I’ve seen my neighbors in their PJ’s, once even a guy in a towel, but that’s another story. But all those 3 a.m. or 11 p.m. trips outside actually made me feel really self-conscious about my Soffe shorts and old ratty summer camp T-shirts from 1996.
Having the dog meant I needed pajamas I didn’t mind the neighbors seeing me in. That meant cute T-shirts and shorts.

I’ve since stocked up on Victoria’s Secret’s Pink T’s (it’s a line, they are not all pink), and a lot of yoga pants and capri’s. Maybe my hubby appreciates my new cuter PJ’s, too.

But there you go, getting a dog can prompt you to go clothes shopping for yourself. Score!

PS> And yes, I do wear pajamas a lot.

Mojo Menu

One of Mojo's worst vices is his tendency to eat really stupid things. It was worse when he was a puppy, I was constantly pulling things out his mouth. It's gotten better but every now and then he eats or attempts to eat something he shouldn't. Here's a sampling of what he's eaten.

• Mulch
• Hair (constantly)
• Cigarette butts
• 7 inches of shoelace (don't ask me how I know)
• String (lots of it)
• A pen (we found the pen before he got to any of the metal but he did crunch some of the plastic)
• Head phones
• The ears off his toys
• Half a phone book cover
• The corner of a newspaper bag
• Worm jerkey (also known as the dried up worms baked on the sidewalks)
• Poop (the more rancid the better)

We do try out best not to let him eat these things, but are not always successful.

Scheming

Today Mojo had a unique afternoon snack. Not the usual chicken, carrots or ice cubes. No, today that cat brought him a snack.

As previously mentioned, Katie's new hobby is knocking things off ledges. Today she decided to knock the computer headphones off of the small desk cubby they are stored in. Katie really likes these headphones, and if they are ever left out she likes to play with the string and try to eat the ear buds. For that reason the headphones are stored in a drawstring pouch when not in use.

Today she knocked the pouch off the desk and we can only guess she pulled the headphones out of the pouch. At which point we guess she decided to share her new prize with the dog.

Last week Mojo ate Katie shoelace, so it's not really surprising that he decided to eat the headphones. Specifically he ate one ear bud, the headphone jack and some of the cord.

Yum.

P.S. We will update you on his condition once we know the outcome.

UPDATE:

We never actually saw any evidence that he ate these things (I do have the remaining parts of the headphones), so maybe they are under a couch somewhere. That or they didn't cause any problems on the way out.