Blog Dogs | My New Favorite Outfit: Gracie

Good morning sunshines! WELCOME TO MAY!!! So sorry Blog Dogs is late, I hope you survived a whole Monday (and Tuesday... I extra suck) without puppies.

Today's little muffin is Gracie. Her mama is Ginny from My New Favorite Outfit who is one of my FAVORITE blog ladies maybe ever. Okay, definitely ever. Funny story: I'm emotionally scarred by beagles. My parents brought one home when I was a tiny little nugget, and that dog HATED me. She'd chase me around while I was in diapers and bite my heels. Howwwwwever, I'm nominating Gracie as breed ambassador because I'd take her home with me in a second. Not only is she indestructible (who eats razors and survives?!) but we have a lot in common - you know, like slobbering and stealing food. She's just cuter at it than I am.

1. Introduce us to your little furbaby!

This is Gracie, she's our nearly 6 year old Beagle.

2. Where and when and how did you get her?

We got Gracie around the time we got engaged. It was the summer, so I had all kinds of free time, like "sit and watch movies all day while Brian works" kind if time. Getting a puppy made perfect sense?!?! My now husband is quite the researcher and found that a Beagle would be the perfect dog to get. We found her in the paper and truth be told she was soooo stinking cute! She was actually really easy to potty train too, and she was a great summer companion while I was bored at home.

3. What's her favorite toy?

Grace loves balls, Frisbees, chews (raw hide) and anything that happens to be in the garbage that she thinks would be worth trying to eat or just make a huge mess with. She most recently thought eating my husband's old razors would be a good idea. For real.

4. Tell us your favorite puppy story. Come on, you know you have one.

In general she and our son Grant like each other, that is unless Grant has food and Grace thinks she needs it. Anyway, they love to play chase and Grant loves to throw Grace's toys for her. It makes me so happy to see both of them having fun. I'm guessing its kind of like seeing siblings play, minus the excess slobber. The only reason Grace is sitting still in this picture is because I'm dangling a carrot above the camera....

5. Does she have any funny quirks?

She licks. And licks. And licks. Herself, my hand, my leg, my foot, the face. Whatever. It drives my crazy! Honestly, it's my own fault, I allowed it when she was a puppy and now I've created a licking monster. Let that be a lesson to those of you training a pet (or your child) you can't get mad when the once sweet and innocent pet licks you to death in your sleep.

6. Where does Gracie sleep?

Sigh. In our bed, under the covers, then on top of the covers, then, just to mix it up, under the covers again. I wanted her kenneled at night but "someone" couldn't deal with her crying in the kennel, so in the bed she is. Now she'd probably be fine in a kennel, but I feel like it'd be kind of cruel and it'd hurt her poor doggy feelings, so instead I just let he wake me up a half dozen times a night to deal with the over/under covers situation.

7. Can she do any tricks?

Grace can shake and steal food from an unsuspecting hand in the blink of an eye. Case in point, this picture, it's probably a year and a half old, but you get the idea...

8. If you could describe Grace's personality in one word, what would it be?

So hard! When she's licking, rummaging through garbage, or stealing food she's a brat. BUT, when she's curled up next to me on the couch (as she is while I'm typing this) it's loving.

9. Are there any doggy products you can't live without?

Oh my, the Kong brand dog brush is amazaballs! Go get it, like yesterday! Grace is shedding like crazy since it's spring and that brush works wonders!

10. What's the best advice you have for someone who's considering getting a dog?

Having a pet is great, but it's also hard work. Truly make sure you have the time, energy, money, and most importantly, love to give to your sweet pet. They can be a great addition to your family. Just like us they'll have funny (and sometimes annoying) quirks, they aren't perfect, just like we aren't, so love them just the same.

THAT. FACE. Thanks for sharing her with us, Ginny :)


You may have noticed from my aaaaabsolute inability to dress myself/post anything that I'm taking a teensy tiny little hiatus until after graduation. Between finals, finishing grad things, my parents coming into town, cleaning out my Facebook friends (do you guys enjoy this as much as I do?!), a wedding last weekend, a wedding next weekend, doing a lot of this, and moving home... #clusterfuck. Give me a week or two to deshamble my life and I'll be good as new! In the meantime, help me procrastinate for my last final on twitter and Insta ;)

Blog Dogs | Here & Now: Doug & Scout

I'm SO PSYCHED to introduce you guys to DTP, the thuggest pug in the streets, and his new baby sister Scout. (I'm fangirling out a little bit right now - I've got a huge Doug crush.) Their mama needs no introduction - if you're not checking out Jess's style on Here & Now already, you're missing out big time. Plus, you'd be missing gems like "the pug monorail" (you'll see in a minute)...

1. Introduce us to your little furbabies!

My little babies are Doug The Pug & Scout. Known on the Internet as #dougfan & #scoutthepug. Or at home as Douglas, Dougie Fresh, Frankenstein, Dergals. And Scouter-pants, Baby Girl, Squirrel.

2. Where and when and how did you get Doug & Scout?

I have wanted a Pug named Doug since I was 8 years old (along with a Great Dane named Wayne, but that is a story for another day). After receiving multiple stuffed animal pugs growing up that I named "Doug", in the summer of 2010 I finally convinced my boyfriend that we needed a pug. We found a breeder in Kentucky that raises show pugs & sells the ones that aren't made for competition in the ring...

Doug was a show pug reject, but perfect for us! We caught the pug itch again this past February & drove back to KY for our 2nd child, a little girl we named Scout.

3. What are the pugs' favorite toys?

Doug prefers stuffed animals - if only to gnaw on their beady little plastic eyes.

And Scout is quite the hoof connoisseur.

4. Tell us your favorite pug story. Come on, you know you have one.

There are too many to name - really!

Pugs are the comedians of the dog world - here only to entertain & occupy laps.

There was the one time that Doug had some stress poo inside my boyfriend's roommate's room (think LOTS & reallllly sloppy)... and if that wasn't enough, he flicked said poo on every vertical surface in the room... I guess I should add the nickname "s***storm" to the list.

We have only had Scout for a month - but she has quickly earned the moniker "squirrel" because she is very peculiar & squirrel-ish... hard to explain on the internet, you just have to meet her!

5. Do Doug & Scout have any funny quirks?

Everything these two do is a quirk.

We have even video taped them several times while out of the house - we have to watch it in fast forward because they do so much sleeping, but then there will be this weird "Paranomal Activity" style movement (like Doug sitting on the coffee table) & then back to sleeping!

Scout sleeps with all of her paws tucked underneath her - pug monorail style, has to sit on my lap while I use the restroom & has the worst case of dog FOMO I have ever seen.

Doug watches TV. He can pick out a child, horse or cat, even in cartoon form, from across the room.

6. Where do the pugs sleep?

Well sharing my pillow of course! Doug is the little spoon & Scout is the big spoon. It is a beautiful snore fest!

7. Can the pugs do any tricks?

Is begging a trick? Or being ridiculously cute? Not known as the sharpest members of the Animal Kingdom...

8. If you could describe the pugs' personality in one word, what would it be?

Doug: little Prince

Scout: squirrel

9. Are there any doggy products you can't live without?

um, poop bags?

Before becoming a pet owner I never realized that picking up another organism's poo would become so routine...

10. What's the best advice you have for someone who's considering getting a dog?

If you aren't going to be able to love them like an extension of yourself, don't even think about it!


Thanks for sharing the puglets with us, Jess! I'm even more smitten than I was before. Next up is Ginny from My New Favorite Outfit, one of my very sweetest bloggy friends, and Gracie the beagle. See you next week!

Blog Dogs | Wearable.Fun.Fashion: Vienna & Sophia

So when Jenna at Wearable.Fun.Fashion said she'd like to introduce her nieces, I was immediately in love. Anyone who uses familial terms with animals is a friend of mine. Not only is this girl hilarious (oh you don't believe me? Bloopers post from last week. boom) but she's an auntie to a pitbull.

Not that I don't adore little miss Vienna the hotdog bossdog... but let me tell you how I feel about pitbulls.

I wrote a paper in law school on the unconstitutionality of breed-specific legislation (pit bull bans). Fun fact: not only is "pit bull" not technically a breed (which means you can't define it with any reasonable, rational, predictable results), but people are routinely robbed of their family pets with no due process, no opportunity to fight the 'charges', no proof of wrongdoing whatsoever besides an animal control worker's basic idea of what a pit looks like. People are excluded from living in certain places because dogs of a similar body structure to their dog has committed a bad act at some point in the past. It's sort of like not letting someone move in to an apartment because their great uncle twice removed who has the same eye color robbed a convenience store and the neighbors raise their eyebrows. This, as a future lawyer, appalls me.

But this is another lecture for another day.

On to the cute puppy pics!

1. Introduce us to your little furbaby!

I am so excited to introduce my beautiful doggie nieces, Vienna Ann and Sophia. They are my older sister Wendy's dogs but I take the role of "doggie Aunt" very seriously :) Vienna is a dachshund and Sophia is the sweetest pittie you will ever meet! They are "sisters" and love each other so much. You can always find them cuddling, spooning (for real, see evidence below), or "play-biting" each other. 

2. Where and when and how did you get Vienna and Sophia?

Well Vienna's mom is actually MY dachshund, Trixie-Belle Rose. Trixie-Belle and my other dachshund, Ernie, had a little of puppies together a couple summer's ago and my sister, Wendy, decided to keep one of them! She got Sophia as a puppy as few years ago. 

3. What are their favorite toys?

They both love to chew on rawhide bones filled with peanut butter and...each other. They absolutely love to play and wrestle but don't worry, Sophia knows not to be too rough with little Vienna! 

4. Tell us your favorite Vienna/Sophia story.

I don't have a particular story, but I think it's hilarious when Vienna takes Sophia's bones and hides them under the bed, where Sophia can't reach them. That and Vienna totally wears the pants in their friendship and bosses Sophia around (just like real sisters would).

5. Do Vienna and Sophia have any funny quirks?

Sophia bites her toenails- it's the funniest looking thing. Vienna HAS to sleep underneath the covers at night. 

6. Where do they sleep? 

They love to sleep in bed with my sister, underneath all the covers! They aren't big on cuddling with humans but love to cuddle with each other at the foot of the bed. 

7. Can Vienna or Sophia do any tricks?

Sophia has the whole -sit-stay-laydown-bark!- thing down pat. That pittie girl will do anything for a treat! Vienna's best trick? We tell her "Sit there and look cute!" and she does it- EVERY TIME! She is truly talented :)

8. If you could describe Vienna and Sophia's personality in one word, what would it be?

Vienna: Sassy. She is so small and tiny but as soon as you try and move her off of my sister's lap during cuddle time, she gets very sassy! I swear to God, she HISSED at me one time. I was not happy about that!

Sophia: Loveable. She may be a pitbull and we all know how much pitbulls get a bad rep, but I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Sophia. She will lick your face off, try and sit on your lap if you're watching TV, and is always SO excited to see me whenever I come to visit. 

9. Are there any doggy products you can't live without?

Rawhide bones! The puppies love them, especially filled with yummy treats like peanut butter. 

10. What's the best advice you have for someone who's considering getting a dog? 

I would say that for all dogs (but dachshunds in particular) do lots of research about the breed to know what you're getting into! Dachshunds are very "stuck-up" and stubborn, so potty-training is always rough. They also HATE going outside to potty when it's raining/snowing! Oh, and definitely consider the whole shedding thing, especially if you ever want to be able to wear a dark colored shirt/sweater again.

Thanks so much for letting me introduce my doggie nieces, Sam :)

(Thanks for calling them doggie nieces, Jenna ;) )

On deck for next week: the impossibly cute Jess from Here & Now, my personal pugcrush Doug (better known in the streets as DTP), and his new baby sister Scout. A must read!

Blog Dogs | The Second Best: Beau

YOU GUYS.

I thought I'd seen wrinkles. My parents had bulldogs forever, and one of them even had to have a butt lift. I thought I'd seen it all.

I had not.

When I started following Natalie from The Second Best on Instagram, I had no idea I was in for so much more than super frigging cute outfits. I actually thought she adopted some kind of walrus/hippo hybrid. Beau is officially the squishiest, most precious little ball of wrinkles this girl's ever seen. And make sure you watch the rubber chicken video. I DIE.

1. Introduce us to your little furbaby.

Beau Wilson Hodak (yes, his middle name is Wilson) aka Hey Beau Wrinkles (if we're going by his AKC name) is my little wrinkle muffin and love of my and the hub's life. He's a pure bred Chinese Shar-Pei but thinks he's a person.

2. Where and when and how did you get Beau?

2011 was a pretty crap-tastic year for my family and I was having a hard time, so my hubs and I decided that we should get that dog we've wanted ever since we got serious. I fell in love with a shar-pei mix I found online but he was already adopted, so without doing much more research into the breed, I became obsessed and finally found puppies for sale near us. We met all the pups and initially, I had my heart set on a blue one, but there was some high drama with the breeder about first picks and we ended up with our little tan (well he's actually called a lilac dilute) roll of wrinkles. We lost our family dog of 13 years earlier that year and I can still see my mom's face when she walked into my apartment, under the guise of wedding planning, and saw Beau, it was priceless and I would get 100 more dogs for that reaction.

3. What are his favorite toys?

Beau's favorite toy of all are my husband's socks. Preferably ones that he's taken off at the end of a long day and left on the floor. But if we have to talk serious dog toys, he loves his nylabones and these crazy rubber chickens we got at Target (see video).

4. Tell us your favorite Beau story.

There are WAY too many, but one of my favorites is that one weekend when my parents were dog-sitting, my mom walked in on Beau sitting on top of the kitchen table. He hadn't eaten anything off of it, he was just sitting on top, a midst the plates. Because he's part mountain goat.

5. Does Beau have any funny quirks? 

Beau needs to sit on people. So if we're sitting on the couch, and especially if my husband has a laptop on his lap, Beau will, without fail, sit on one of us.

6. Where does he sleep?

In our bed, at our feet, on our feet, and if one of us isn't home, in the other's spot.

7. Can Beau do any tricks?

Yes! We took training him pretty seriously, so as long as he's in our apartment, he can sit, shake, lay down, speak, park it (run to his dog bed in the corner of the living room and sit in it), come, stay, stop, and my personal favorite, high-five (see video). When outside the apartment, we're lucky if he hears anything we say at all. (Apparently dogs act differently in different environments.)

8. If you could describe Beau's personality in one word, what would it be?

Spoiled (but entitled works just as well). He thinks he's the king, which, I guess, is actually true.

9. Are there any doggy products you can't live without?

These gross dried lambs lung (they look exactly how they sound) treats that Beau loves and his Kong ball where we put said treats.

10. What's the best advice you have for someone who's considering getting a dog?

Go to puppy training classes - they really do give you some great tips and tricks on how to train your dog! Oh and doing research about the breed isn't a bad thing. For instance, because of his wrinkles, Beau will need an eye lift. (That's right, I have to pay for my dog to get an eye lift.)

Thanks for sharing Beau with us for the day, Natalie! And if he goes missing it was for sure not me ;) Check in next week to meet Vienna Ann, Sophia, and their auntie Jenna from Wearable.Fun.Fashion!

Blog Dogs | Franish: Hans & Baer

I'm so excited about today's Blog Dogs! If you're not a follower of Franish you ain't livin' girl... and if you're not following her on Instagram you're missing out on some seriously sweet little puppymuffins in Hans and Baer. Fran Dandy is one of my all-time biggest girl crushes (and yours too, don't lie) and everyone's favorite German almost-doctor, and these two little wienerschnitzels are about to be your favorites as well!

1. Introduce us to your little furbaby!

I have 2! Hans is a 3.5 year old wired haired dachshund and Baer is a 3 year old dachshund/basset hound/ lab / retriever mix (NO he's not a mutt. that hurts his feelings)

2. Where and when and how did you get them?

Hans was my 22nd birthday present from my boyfriend. I begged and begged for a puppy and it all paid off. He just found a litter on craigslist and picked out the runt and made him ours. A few months later we started looking for a brother for Hans. We found Baer at the Columbia County Humane Society. He was a part of a litter of puppies that were dropped on their front door. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into since he is such a mix. We were surprised when he become 4 times his original size!

3. What are their favorite toys?

Baerpup loves anything he can chew up. Hansi loves his squeeky toy - the kind that doesn't have any fluff in it since they just tear those up.

4. Tell us your favorite puppy story. Come on, you know you have one.

Hans hates the water and Baer loves it. Last summer we went on a run with them and they ended up going on a swim in a lake. Since the water was disgusssssting, they were set to get a bath when we got home. We took their collars off so we could rinse them off outside with a hose, and for the 5 seconds we focused on Baer, Hans ran away. We looked and looked and looked for him all over the neighborhood. I for sure thought he was gone forever (remember we had just taken his collar off with his information). Eventually a lady found him sitting on her back porch and started walking around the neighborhood and we got him back. It was the worst hour of my life.

5. Do they have any funny quirks?

They both can hear the sound of a peeler or knife from across the house - they always get scraps of vegetables and fruits!

6. Where do they sleep?

They are in their crate at night and when we aren't home. It's their little safe zone - they just cuddle up together! Some nights when I feel guilty about leaving them alone I let them sleep with me when Chris isn't home - that's probably Hans's favorite thing in the entire world.

7. Can they do any tricks?

Yes! And we even made a little video even though they just wanted to do all of their tricks at once.

8. If you could describe Hans' and Baer's personality in one word, what would it be?

Hans: low

Baer: sheds-a-lot

9. Are there any doggy products you can't live without?

The knock off furminator!

10. What's the best advice you have for someone who's considering getting a dog?

Think about how often you travel or out of the house. Because my dogs are kenneled during the day, I drive home as quickly as possible after work to let them out. If Chris and I want to travel we have to kennel them or have my parents take them. Puppies are fun and dogs are great, but there are some sacrifices that have to be made - but when they snuggle up to you and lick your face (and your tears...its true), those minimal sacrifices are worth it.

Big thanks to Frannie May for sharing her babies with us! Come back next week for a behind-the-scenes look at the adorably wrinkly Beau and not wrinkly Natalie from The Second Best!

Blog Dogs | Indy & Brooklyn

Welcome to Blog Dogs! Every week or so we're going to hang out with the dogs behind some of our favorite bloggers, because I can't get my fix off your Instagram feeds anymore! So if you're into pictures of cute puppies and getting to know all of the reasons why they're so stinking adorable, stay tuned. And if you'd like to tell us all about your dog, email me!

First up: my little muffins. Obvi. :)

1. Introduce us to your little furbaby!

Indy is my big handsome boy, and Brooklyn is my nugget. Monkeyman and Little Dog. Mr. Pinders and Brook-a-lyn. Indybug and Nuggiebear. I am a nicknaming connoisseur, just ask poor Fran-diddy.

2. Where and when and how did you get Indy and Nugget?

This would have taken roughly three novels... so we vlogged it. Oh yes, we. The three of us. Scroll scroll scroll!

3. What are their favorite toys?

Nugget's favorite toy is whatever Indy is playing with at the moment, usually one of these Nylabones... we have three in the apartment at all times. She also loves water bottles. He loves anything with a squeaker. They both really love ice cubes more than life itself so I don't know why I bother with toys.

4. Tell us your favorite Indy/Nugget story. Come on, you know you have one.

I have thousands. Some of them are in the vlog, others we'll save for another day. But also, this video where Nugget decided to growl at herself in the mirror.

AND after Indy had his big surgery we went to pick him up and the morphine he was on made him super weird. Like, he tried to climb in the back of the car but he stopped with his front half in the car and his back legs on the ground and just started whimpering because he couldn't figure out how to do it. It was very David After Dentist.

5. Do Indy and Nugget have any funny quirks?

Huskies aren't supposed to be able to bark, but Nuggiebear can because she was raised by Indy. So that's always a funny sound, because it's very not-doglike.

6. Where do they sleep?

Nugget sleeps in bed, on top of my legs at all times. Indy rotates between in front of the doors and the couch. He's our protector.

7. Can Indy or Nugget do any tricks?

I mean, they can both sit. I'm not a super on-top-of-it owner that way.

8. If you could describe Indy and Brooklyn's personality in one word, what would it be?

Indy: derpy. Because... he derps around when he gets excited. I don't know how else to explain it.

Brooklyn: sassypants.

9. Are there any doggy products you can't live without?

THE FURMINATOR. And Nylabones. And this portable carpet cleaner.

10. What's the best advice you have for someone who's considering getting a dog?

Be realistic about what you can handle. Like, oh I don't know... a puppy during grad school? Probably not. Know what you want going in, and stalk Petfinder.com until you find it. And you will find it, just be patient.

And now... the vlog! The first ever! The over/under on times I say "like" is 248.