Thanks to Preston’s cyber friends in Houston, Preston got a long list of pet-friendly places to visit. Mommy and Daddy helped Preston check off three dog parks from his list in his first month here.
1). Congressman Bill Archer Bark Park- 17 acres of off-leash area with open space, walking trails, an agility course and two bone-shaped pools.
Preston visited on the day when a Great Dane meetup was taking place.
2). Millie Bush Bark Park- 15 acres of open and well-manicured space for off-leash fun. There are walking trails, agility equipments and three pools. This dog is only 5 miles from Congressman Bill Archer Bark Park. Can you believe that two such awesome dog parks are so close to each other? Lucky Houston dogs!
In Houston, the small dog areas of the dog park are for dogs 20lb and under (size restriction here is smaller than parks Preston used to visit in CA or MA). When 30 lb Preston visited the small dog area as a guest, he had an entourage following him…
3) Danny Jackson Bark Park- This is a smaller park (by TX standard, of course) with 3 acres of off-leash area and two swimming pools. The best thing about this park is…it is only 1.5 miles from home!
Preston hopes to make lots of new friends here.
The part Mommy likes the most about these bark parks is the doggie shower! Preston can always come home as a clean dog! But he doesn’t seem to be as excited about this amenity as mom is.
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Awesome Dog Parks
What’s in your Kong®?
It has become one of Preston’s daily routines to have a treat dispensing toy like Kong® when Mommy and Daddy are having their dinner. Preston finishes his dinner first and then brings his Kong over to Mommy to be filled with “goodie of the day”. Mommy is always looking for new yummy (and sticky) Kong fillings. Here are a few of Preston’s favorites. What are yours? Please share!
Beef & Rice: Puree 2 parts of cooked beef + 1 part of rice, add water to achieve the desired consistency.
Banana & Peanut butter: Puree one banana and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter (and some optional honey). Add a small piece of bread to make it stickier.
(a behind-the-scene capture during the photoshoot…)
Salmon & Cream cheese: Puree 1/2 cup of cooked salmon and 2 tablespoons of low/non-fat cream cheese (or cottage cheese).
More great fillings… Just cook and puree!
Yikes! Ticks!
It was a nice spring Sunday. Preston went hiking at Mount Misery. Unfortunately, his first hike of the year was ruined by the ticks. After spotting two ticks on Preston, Mommy and Daddy couldn’t get Preston out of the tick-infested grassy field fast enough. Tick-borne Lyme disease is endemic in New England and NOT fun to have. Mommy examined Preston thoroughly and did not find more ticks on him. Hopefully, Frontline Plus® does its job keeping the ticks out of Preston!
FYI: some good articles about ticks: Ticks on Dogs. and Canine Tick Disease FAQ.
Pawdicure
Mommy hopes this video will encourage anyone who has a hard time trimming their dog’s nails to keep trying eventhough it might seem like an impossible task.
Preston used to be terrified of nail trimming. Visits to the groomer were quite traumatizing for him. Mommy tried Peticure® but Preston ran away on the buzzing sound of the electric filer. Nail trimming was such a dreadful activity for both Mommy and Preston. For more than two years, Mommy had given up on trimming Preston’s nails. Luckily, his active lifestyle kept his nails naturally short. His dew claws were removed by the breeder so Mommy never has to worry about them.
This past winter was Preston’s first winter living in a place where there was a lot of snow. The de-icers on the ground made it hard to go for long walks. Running in the snow or grassy parks was just not enough to wear down his nails. Nail trimming became necessary again and Mommy wasn’t looking forward to doing it at all.
To Mommy’s surprise, nail clipping was so much easier this time around. Preston has become quite comfortable with his pawdicure, sometimes, he even falls alseep in the midst of it.
Preston’s pawdicure kit:
How does Preston learn to enjoy the nail clipping?
1. Growing up Preston is used to having his paws handled. Mommy likes holding his paws and wiggling his toes when cuddling.
2. Preston got two cheerios and a big praise if he let Mommy touch his toes with a nail clipper (without clipping). Repeat this many many times.
3. Then, move on to real clipping, Preston got two cheerios for each snap sound the clipper makes.
And many many cheerios later…
Dental Hygiene
February is national pet dental health month. Preston is taking this opportunity to remind everyone the importance of pet dental care.
These pearly whites have won Preston many praises from the vet during his annual exam.
Mommy brushes Preston’s teeth every day. Of all the doggie toothpaste Mommy has tried, C.E.T. brand is her favorite.
Preston is so good at letting Mommy brush his teeth, especially when he is sleepy…
FYI: Read about a complete dental care program and home dental care guide by Dr. Holly Nash.
bon appétit!
Mommy has gotten many questions about Preston’s food so she thought a post about his food would help answer many of those questions.
Preston used to eat home-cooked meals but when preparing his food got too time-consuming, Mommy found a great alternative – The Honest Kitchen Dehydrated Dog food.
THK offers high quality dog food made with human-grade ingredients. It is easy to prepare but still gives Mommy the pleasure of making Preston’s meals.
Mommy adds cooked meats and pureed veggies to the hydrated THK (THK can be served as-is. Additional meats and veggies are optional).
Preston does not normally get raw meats except raw sardines every couple of weeks. He also gets fish oil supplements (1200mg) daily.
FYI: Good reads about dog food: The Best Food For Dogs and The Dog Food Project.
Moo Tubes
Moo tubes are by far the weirdest looking treats Mommy has gotten for Preston. These dried beef trachea are not as hard as rawhide so the risk of teeth cracking is lower but they are tough enough to give Preston plenty of chewing pleasure.
Mommy ALWAYS supervises Preston when giving him chew treats like moo tubes, bully sticks, rawhide or pig ears. Hope everyone does too. Mommy can’t stress enough how important this is!!
Mommy and Daddy just love to see how focus Preston is when working on his moo tube.
FYI: Mommy likes to order Preston’s moo tubes and bully sticks from thebestbullysticks.com. For some reason, the bully sticks from them are not as stinky as the ones from other places (if your bully sticks have strong odor, place them in the 180F oven and bake for 3 hrs or longer. This will remove some of the moisture that causes the smell.)
Collar, collar & more collars
Mommy is a collar junkie so Preston has a growing collection of collars.
It is hard to believe how tiny Preston’s first collar is. It only lasted 3 weeks.
More puppy collars…
For going to the dog park and swimming, Preston needs a rugged and waterproof collar. He wears his Dublin Dog collar.
Each of his collars has its own ID tag.
FYI: Mommy likes to order Preston’s collars from The Mod Dog. The Mod Dog offers a wide selection of custom-made collars at great prices and excellent quality.
The pawprint ID tags are made by www.pawprintpettags.com.
Photobooks
Over the past three and half years, Mommy and Daddy took thousands of pictures of Preston. Instead of storing those precious moments in the computer, they made not one but two photobooks. It took Mommy and Daddy a couple of months to complete the project. The books arrived and made the best holiday presents they got for themselves and Preston!
The first photobook is titled “Preston!” It contains almost five hundred pictures taken since Preston’s first day home.
The second one is a smaller book (8 x 10 in, 76 pages) titled “P for Puggle”. It is a collection of artsier pictures of Preston.
FYI: Both photobooks were designed with Blurb’s BookSmart® software and ordered from www.blurb.com. We went with hardcover and premium paper and are satisfied with the print and binding quality.
Anyone intrested can view excerpts from the books at P for Puggle and Preston!.
Knot-a-long® Leash
A couple of weeks ago, Preston’s puggle buddy Bruschi talked about his new Wacky Walkr® Urban leash in his blog. It is a short elastic leash that is perfect for dogs who like to pull. Living in a city (with a real wacky walker like Preston), Mommy especially appreciates a short leash that allows her more control when walking on busy streets. Mommy would like to share another great short leash option – Knot-a-long® leash by Ruffwear.
The handle of this leash is very comfortable to hold on to. The material is extremely lightweight yet durable. The length of the leash is 2.5 feet (it is not elastic) and great for keeping Preston by mommy’s side (as seen in Preston’s NYC trip).
Does Knot-a-long® leash magically transform Preston into a perfect walker? Not quite…but here is Preston’s best “on-leash” walk.
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Meeting up with Cyber Friends
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Twitter: pugglepreston- m said "watch your anal gland or else you will be banned from the sofa" what is that supposed to mean?? http://twitpic.com/2mijha
- m's new sofa is not tan, not beige, not even ivory, it's SNOW white. http://twitpic.com/2mig2o
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