Grumpy Mondays

Biggie's face pretty much sums it up.. the work week has begun again, and he doesn't approve!

Nom nom nom.

   Hello, Everyone! First of all, I would like to say thank you for all of the compliments you left on my portrait post! I'm still getting used to blogging again, so forgive me if I'm slow respond. The comments made me feel really great, though! I appreciate it :)

   Now on to the good stuff! I ordered our second batch of treats from Pugs in the Kitchen last week! Biggie and Ollie were very excited once they realized what it was. So excited that they ripped open the package themselves! Don't worry... I got video! And pictures :) Right after they got the treats open, Ollie ran off with the bag of cheese pizza yummies, so that's what they got to try first! I think it's their new favorite.

Hmmmm....

What could it be?

 

Yay!!

Patiently waiting the goodies.

Focus! They would not look away!

That's when Biggie decided to try to use mind tricks, and Ollie gave me the stink eye.

As you can see, Ollie decided to open the Cheese Pizza treats. He ran off with them, so they tried those first.. By the look on Ollie's face, he approves! :)

Being cute :)

      They have been some happy puggies since they got all these goodies! Blake has been enjoying them, too! He doesn't like to pose for pictures though, haha.

I hope you are all having a great weekend! If you get a chance, go buy some yummy treats for your doggies. I can confidently say that they deserve it!

Biggie's portrait!

I finished this portrait a while ago, but I wanted to post my in progress photos! I love taking pictures throughout the entire thing. The only hard part is I get so tuned in and focused, I sometimes forget to stop and snap a photo. Anyway, I thought It would be fun to show all of our blog buddies! I'm wanting to list custom portraits in my shop soon, but for some reason fear and nerves are getting the best of me. Ahh!

 

 And that's it! Now it's framed and hanging on the wall with Ollie's portrait. Sorry about the creepy "blank stare", haha. The most important detail to me is the eyes so I save them for last in order to not smudge them all up. I don't have many in progress photos of the portrait I did of Ollie, but I can show you all the finished product! 

I hope you're all enjoying yourselves today! It's rainy here in Oregon, but I'm pretty much used to that by now! haha. 

Hugs!

Angie, Biggie and Ollie

EDIT: I decided to make a listing and try not to be nervous!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/91369695/framed-custom-pastel-dog-portrait


:)

When it rains, it pours..

    The past couple of days we have been experiencing some ridiculous weather in my home town! It's one of the worst floods we've had in this area in a long time. Luckily, my home hasn't been in any trouble. We had some flooding in our front yard and I couldn't make it to my car one of the days, but so far still manageable.
    Because of the terrible Oregon weather, I have brought out the rain coats! Biggie and Ollie are definitely not very pleased. Well, I guess Ollie doesn't mind, but Biggie hates me now!

 

Biggie's approach to dealing with his outfit is to hide under the bed and make faces at me. 

 I have to say, he sure knows how to make someone feel guilty with that face!

Eventually, I was able to lure him out with some treats, but no way was he going to pose for me!

Ollie loves his coat, and he loves to model :)

   So, needless to say, Biggie makes me feel guilty every time he has to wear something outside. He hates getting wet, and hates wearing his coat.. Go figure.

Now, a peek at what we're going through.

It doesn't look too bad if you don't know the area, but notice the tips of the trees sticking out of the water. I would say that little stream is about 6-8 feet higher than it usually is. 

Another flooded stream going up into the fields. 

 This is another field. Not good!

This photo was not taken by me, but this is an aerial view of around the same area. 

 

   Looks like we'll be staying inside as much as possible for a while! I hope you're all safe, warm and dry. Maybe I can use this time inside to get caught up on some of my craft projects! Yay!

 

 

I hope you all have a great weekend!

-Angie, Biggie and Ollie

Let's see if this works...

I downloaded a blogging app on my phone last night, so of course I am looking for an excuse to test it out! So, for lack of anything intersting to say, I leave you all with this! A picture of Ollie lounging around :)

Hope you're all having a great day! I look out my windows to see a flooded backyard. Looks like I'll be spending the night inside, cuddling the pugs and watching movies! Not that I mind, haha.

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Introduction Time!

Trevor and I

   Hi, everyone! I decided to give blogging another shot. It's been a few years since I last had a blog, so this should be fun!
   My name is Angie and I'm 22 years old. When I'm not working, I spend most of my time being crafty and spending time with my boyfriend and my dogs. Lately I've really gotten into glassblowing and back into sketching. My boyfriend, Trevor, has been making art glass pieces for about 9 years now and he introduced me to it when we met a little over 5 years ago.
                                  That's us over there :)
    We met through some mutual friends and have been pretty much inseparable ever since!

Baby Biggie

    We are proudly owned by two pugs. We got our first pug, Biggie, on April 9, 2010. He was born February 17th, 2010. He is one of the sweetest pugs in the world! He spends most of his time cuddled up next to me whether we're in bed being lazy, or he's snuggled up next to me in the craft room or like right now how he's hogging up the chair, snoring away! He loves to be near me. He also likes to steal socks, chase the cats and eat oranges.
    I waited forever before finally getting my first pug. As pugs tend to do, he stole our hearts immediately and we were quickly beginning to wonder how we ever lived our lives without him. Everyone he encounters quickly becomes a fan of him, and he puts a smile on the face of everyone he meets! He knows he's my baby, he knows he's adorable and I can't imagine a day without that little boy! We knew almost immediately that we wanted another pug. Biggie brings us so much joy and of course he needed a little play-mate!

Ollie was born August 18, 2010 and became a part of our family January 8, 2011.

Ollie with his Tennis Ball

   He had a bit of a rough start. He belonged to a family friend's father who suffered from dementia. His previous owner passed, and Ollie was alone without food or water for a week. We welcomed him into our family without hesitation. The first day in our home I had a feeling something was wrong with him. He couldn't keep any food or water in his body, and he weighed in at 4 pounds. I scheduled a vet appointment for the next day.
   When we took him to the vet we did some testing for Parvo which turned up negative, did some skin scrapings on some sore spots he had to check for parasites, an overall check-up and then were sent home with some special prescription food to try to put some weight on him. He always had a big appetite, and every time he ate you would think he had never eaten before in his life! Within a half hour of him eating, the food would always come back up and he would become lethargic again. I gave it another day, calling the vet almost constantly because I was so worried before I took him back in again.
     This was the routine for the following month or so. We were at the vet a minimum of once a week, and during that time we did several x-rays, numerous blood tests, special prescription diets, an endoscopic exam, ultrasounds, barium testing and one exploratory surgery to try to figure out what was wrong with him. I would stay up all night with him, and what little sleep I did get I would still wake up almost every hour to check that he was okay.

Biggie being a camera hog :)

   After hours of research and inconclusive testing, I decided to have him tested for a liver shunt. The blood test came back positive, and we were directed to a surgeon that could help us further with the procedure he would need. This led to more ultrasounds and CT scans to locate the shunt and make sure it was extra-hepatic (located outside of the liver and operable). We had to give him 3 types of medication every day, 3 times a day for the following 3 weeks until the surgery, as well as keep him on a strict prescription diet.
   When a dog has a liver shunt, it means that there is a vein (sometimes referred to as the portal vein) branching out where it shouldn't be and going around the liver instead of passing through it. Because of this, the dog wont always get the nutrients it needs to survive and they have issues breaking down their food. Ollie's portal vein was very large, and he was getting almost no blood flow through his liver. His liver was very small and that is why he could never gain any weight or keep any food in his system.

Ollie after his liver shunt surgery.

    We scheduled his surgery, and took him in on March 3, 2011. To correct the shunt, the surgeons locate it and put a lap-band device around it. Over the course of 6 weeks the band will slowly close off the vein and his liver will start growing and functioning properly. Ollie stayed in the ICU for 3 days following the surgery to be on 24 hour watch for seizures. I was there first thing in the morning to pick him up on the 4th day! He was very sleepy, but of course happy to see us.
   The healing process was stressful. We had to keep him confined to his kennel more than he was used to, keep him from jumping, feed him small amounts of food (Which any pug would NOT be happy with!), attempt to keep his cone of shame on him and of course, give him pain killers. There was an instance where I had to rush him into the ER because he had some extreme bloating. They told us that he would be fine, just to keep an eye on him and limit his activity. This happened about every other day for a few weeks, but eventually went away.
   Ollie is now healthy and up to a hearty 19 pounds! He loves to play and run, and of course eat some tasty non-prescription food! He and Biggie are best friends and partner's in crime.

   Ollie's surgery bills and vet visits were the final push I needed to open up my etsy shop and start selling to the public. I have to take out a few credit loans, but he is worth every penny spent! 90% of the income I get from that goes towards paying off his bills, and the remaining 10% I donate to rescues and shelters in my area. Feel free to stop by my shop and take a look!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pokeypotamus

Blake and I a few years back.

    Last but not least, I also have one other dog named Blake. He's been around the longest! His mother was a Chow Chow, and she belonged to my dad. Blake was the first dog to ever be MINE! He is about 9 years old now, so he is a little more relaxed and laid back than the pugs.. But that doesn't mean he wont join in when they're racing around the room! Blake is a very sweet, gentle, well-mannered dog. He spends most of his time sleeping on my favorite chair.
   We've been battling skin allergies with him for a couple of years now. I still can't quite figure out what is causing it, but he suffers from severe hair loss. Occasionally it will all grow back, but typically it all falls out again. Hopefully we can get it under control soon!

Well, I think that's enough for now! Thank you for taking the time to read this! Don't worry... My next posts wont be as long, haha. Have a great day!