Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Re-Potty Training: Day 1

I have been having some potty problems lately and it's because everything is changing in my house. We have 12 weeks left until my baby brother or sister comes and I'm getting nervous. I don't like Daddy taking me potty and I sometimes pee when I see him with the leash because I don't want to go. Mommy has finally had it with me and is potty training me all over again. I don't really like it but I'm dealing with it.

Grandma let us borrow some baby gates to make a pen for me. I feel like a puppy again! Well, yesterday was Day 1 and it went really well. No accidents and I held it until Daddy took me outside. The pen has a litter box in it, so I can go in there if I have to.

Here is the pen. I was eating when Mommy took the picture.




There are three sections in the pen. They are the litter box, food and water dishes, and my bed.








Do I really have to do this Mommy?!






Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Summer Swimming

One of my most favorite things about the summer is swimming! I would go everyday if I could, but we do get to go several times a week. Last Tuesday I got to go swimming with my good buddy Tucker.

I'm a really great swimmer!








Sometimes I don't want to give my toy up, but then I realize that it's the only way I can keep swimming.










Tucker is also a great swimmer and he doesn't even need a life jacket!






He kind of looks like a drowned rat when he's wet!






And when Tucker is done, he's DONE!










This was Tucker right before we left. He didn't want us to go!




I'll even add one of Sadie just for fun!




Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Catching Up

I realize that it's been a long while since I posted anything on here. We've been so busy and the time has just flown by so fast! I had my Birthday on June 12th and that was so much fun! Mommy took me to the pet store on her way home from work.

I looked at the bunnies first.





Then I got distracted by the cats




We looked at the toys and treats. I got to pick whatever I wanted!








I got to eat my treats when I got home
















Next, I got my presents from Mommy and Daddy!



I really enjoyed my Birthday and had so much fun!


Another part of the reason that I haven't blogged in a few months is because Mommy was really sick up until the middle of May. Mommy was sick because she is going to have a baby! I am so excited!




We are over halfway there and Baby is due in November! I am going to be the best big brother ever!


We are having a poll on whether baby is going to be a Boy or Girl because we are not going to find out. The poll is in the upper right corner of the blog. Put in your guess as to what baby will be!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Bullying: It Needs To Stop

Normally I do the posts in Oscar's voice because it is his blog, but sometimes I talk through my perspective. Oscar and I are on a mission to do good in this world and we bring up topics about things that are going on. Today I'm going to talk about an issue that hundreds of thousands of kids and teens have to suffer from every year.

Bullying: It needs to end.

I know first hand what bullying can do to a person's self esteem. I was bullied and made fun of throughout school growing up. It changed the way I lived my life and I want to share my story about how my animals saved my life.



I had a normal childhood up until I was about 9 years old. I was happy, had lots of friends, and enjoyed having fun with my family even though I was always a little shy.








I started to get a pudgy, but not fat, around age 10. That's when the trouble started.





I had friends that started to say things about my weight. I shrugged it off with a laugh, but was crying on the inside. The popular boys called me names almost everyday when I walked in the classroom or was on the playground. I didn't want to go to school but I never told my parents why. I would stay home every chance I got and there were things my mom and dad didn't know about. Whenever I got sick, I would always lie about how I was feeling just to get out of school for a few more days. I would read my temperature from the thermometer back a few degrees higher than it was, just so I wouldn't have to go to school the next day. The subject of bullying wasn't as public as it is today, so I never really knew what to do about it. I also felt like I had no one to talk to, so all my feelings just grew inside of me. I don't know how I managed to get through my elementary school years and I thought things would get better once I entered into Junior High School. I was wrong.


The name calling stopped, but the effect it had stayed with me for many years to come. I was very self conscious about the way I looked and who I was. I constantly thought I was being watched and judged by the students around me. Why was I not good enough to have more than 7 friends at school. I was rarely ever invited to other's houses, not even for birthday parties. I was always picked last in gym class because no one ever wanted me on their team. I felt like an outcast and I didn't think there was anything I could do about it.


To make matters worse, I was constantly fighting with my mother about everything. I stayed in my bedroom most of the time I was at home. It was the only place I felt safe. I wrote my feelings in my journal every night because it was the one place that I could trust to say anything to. I felt like I had no control over my life and I was slowly losing it. I felt like I needed an escape from my pain, but I was afraid to talk to parents or even school counselors. I figured they would think I was crazy. I took to cutting my wrists because the pain from it covered the pain I was feeling inside, but only temporarily. Soon my parents found out what I was doing and had a serious talk with me. They told me I would have to see a therapist if I didn't stop. I said I wouldn't do it anymore and to this day, they still think I did. After that day I switched to cutting the bottom of my feet so that my parents wouldn't find out. I continued this, whenever I felt sad or depressed, for about a year. I finally realized that I wasn't doing myself any good my making myself bleed and I wasn't fixing the hurt I felt inside.


By the time I was in 9th grade I wasn't liking school any more than I did before. My grades were falling, my family life sucked, and I still didn't have a lot of friends. I started feeling like no one wanted to be around me because of my weight and I was more body conscious than ever. I didn't want to be an outcast anymore, I didn't want to be the last one picked for teams in gym or groups in other classes. Sometimes the teacher picked our groups and I could just tell that the others in my group really didn't want me there. Most of the time the others didn't even ask for my input and it made me more depressed because I felt like I wasn't needed. I longed to be needed by someone or something. When I was 16, I got my first Guinea Pig Zoe and a year later I bought my Guinea Pig Ginger. He was the best! I finally felt a little happier because they needed me.





School finally got so bad that I dropped out my senior year. I didn't want to be around other students because I was sick and tired of being rejected and I would be lying if I said that I had never considered suicide. I've lost count of the times I thought about ending my life and the only thing that saved me was my Guinea Pigs. My mother hated them and I knew she would get rid of them. Worrying about what would happen to the pets is the only thing that saved me from attempting anything. I was happier at home, but I still wanted to finish school. Everyone else from my class graduated without me, but that year gave me time to think about my life and how I wanted to live it. I convinced my parents to let me get a dog when I was 18. My plan was to use the it as a therapy dog so I could go back to school and the dog would help with my anxiety. I picked up Oscar in August of 2005 and it was love at first sight.





A month later I was home schooled for my senior year. I went to see my home school teacher once a week and I was able to take my adorable puppy with me. School work was so much easier when I wasn't always worrying about others would think of me and I finally loved school! That June I graduated and was happier than ever.


Flash forward 8 years and I have found someone who loves me for who I am. I am so glad that I never had the heart to kill myself. There are so many things I would never have accomplished and my family would have been miserable without me.






I was lucky because I had something, my pets, that was so dear to me that I just couldn't end my life, but there are so many others that don't feel they have anything to live for. This is why bullying has to stop! Kids shouldn't have to fear going to school because they get teased, made fun of, or physically and emotionally hurt. I hope that one day people won't be judged by who we are or what we look like. That will be a great day. Until then, I will continue to fight for those who don't feel they can stand up for themselves.


My life has changed forever because of what happened to me in my early years. I have taken what I have learned and have turned it into something wonderful with the help of Oscar the Boston Terrier and Sadie. It made me want to change the world one person at a time. I do this through Oscar and have a great time in the process. My hope is that you have taken what I posted today help to change the world too.



Saturday, March 30, 2013

Photobombed

I was not the photobombed, but the photobomber. Mommy was getting a picture of Sadie and I got in right before she snapped the photo. I think I did a really good job!




Friday, March 8, 2013

Q and A

My last Question and Answer went so well that I'm doing it again. I will continue doing these when we get Questions. So, here you go!


Q1) What is your favorite toy or treat?

A) I will tell you both. I have two favorite toys. One is my rope and the other is a tennis ball, any toy ball really.











My favorite treats are Wet Noses Organic Dog Treats.





Q2) How do you let your mum put a treat on your nose for the trick?

A) Well, it wasn't easy to teach me, but it's not impossible. Mom would put a treat on my nose and hold her hand under my chin. She would say "Hold It" and slowly take her hand away. If I started to lower my head, she would put her hand back under my chin and repeat the process. She continued this until I was able to hold my head up without needing her hand there.





Q3) When your mum first introduced you and Sadie to the guinea pigs, how was she sure that you two wouldn't hurt the guinea pigs?

A) I have always loved my guinea pigs. Mommy already had my late piggie brother, Ginger, when she brought me home at 8 weeks old. I always thought they were little tiny dogs (or that I was a big Guinea Pig). Sadie had just weaned her puppies when Mommy started fostering, was very scared in a new home, and didn't want anything to do with people. The Guinea Pigs started crying for food the first night and Sadie thought it was her babies. Mommy got one of the piggies and put it next to Sadie to see if that would help her deal with not having her puppies anymore. It worked and Sadie started mothering the Guinea Pigs, like she would do with her own puppies, because that's all she knew for years.








Q4) How does your mum get you all to stay still for the group photo?

A) Not very easily. It takes a lot of pictures to get the one she's looking for. She also has to take the photos quickly or else we decide that we're done. Often times she has to put any one of us back 20-30 times because we move. Sometimes Mommy takes up to 100 photos until she gets the perfect one!









Q5) How do you/your mum get the guinea pigs to Stay in one place? Wouldn't they run around and it would be hard for your mum to catch them?

A) Believe me, they DO run and will try to walk around the apartment while she's trying to get pictures. This is another situation where Mommy has to get as many pictures as she can in order to get what she is looking for. This goes for me and Sadie too. Animals do what they want and they decide when they are done doing something (even if you just started!). Here are examples of some bloopers.


When the Guinea Pigs decide to do their own thing.











When dogs don't want to listen or look at the camera.























There are also those times when one dog photobombs another dog. They just have to sneak in when you're trying to get a picture.










Keep the questions coming! I enjoy answering them.