Archive for 2010

What’s in the Bag?

Because of the hot weather here in Houston, Preston hasn’t been able to go grocery shopping with Mommy and Daddy like he used to in Boston. Preston’s friends know how much he likes to help out with carrying groceries home. Well…nothing is gonna stop Preston from being Mommy’s little grocery helper; afterall, there is a perk for being a good helper.
(Watch when Preston’s tail stops wagging…)

Happy Tummy

Saturday was Daddy’s birthday. Daddy came home from a four-day trip in Chicago to spend his birthday with Mommy and Preston.
Daddy didn’t forget to bring home Mommy’s favorite popcorn- Chicago’s Garrett Popcorn!
“What do you mean it is not puggle food? I brought it home all the way from the garage!”

This is the reason Garrett is not for a puggle…

Mommy took Daddy to The Chocolate Bar to pick out Daddy’s birthday cake. ALL the yummy sweets in the store are made of chocolate…except the carob dipped milkbones! That’s how cool The Chocolate Bar is. They don’t let doggies feel left out.

After the dinner and the cake, Mommy, Daddy and Preston enjoyed some TV time together. Someone on TV was shouting “Ice cream! Ice cream!” Preston rushed over to his toy box and brought Mommy and Daddy this…
“Did someone say ice cream?”

No ice cream. Sorry, Preston. But on Sunday, Mommy made Preston’s Kong filling with a new recipe. Puree 1/2 cup cooked beef, 1/2 cup red bell pepper and 1 hard boiled egg.

see other Kong recipes.

Got Fleas or Ticks?

Preston got both!
As if Preston doesn’t have enough toys, Daddy bought Preston two more new ones, Flea and Tick. His toy count is at 75 now and yes, he still knows all of their names.


It is getting harder to find the toys Preston wants…

(Thank goodness Preston knows how to clean up after himself. see Clean up the toys video.

Moo MiniCards®

As Preston (Mommy and Daddy also) started making new friends in the new city, Mommy thought having his own Moo Cards would help his new friends remember him better.


Mommy loves Preston’s MiniCards! Daddy has been giving them out at work too (they are probably more popular than his own business cards!). These MiniCards were ordered from Moo.com. They are about 2.75″ x 1.25″ (7cm x2.8cm) and printed on thick paper with smooth satin finish. Mommy is very pleased with the printing quality. You can upload up to 100 different designs for each pack of 100 cards (only $19!!). Mommy tried four designs with website address printed on the reverse side.

Dr. Becker’s Bites®

These days, Preston puts on his best behavior when Mommy mentions “Bison Bites”.
When choosing Preston’s treats, Mommy likes them to be simple, natural, healthy and of course, yummy. Dr. Becker’s Bites® are Mommy’s exciting new finds!
These crunchy treats come in three flavors: Bison (made with bison liver & bison heart), Beef (beef liver) and Veggies (2/3 veggies & 1/3 bison liver). Preston has tried all three and love them all.

Don’t they look like tortilla chips? Preston will tell you they are BETTER than tortilla chips!

Awesome Dog Parks

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.

Rover Oaks Pet Resort

Long before going to Aunt Chrissy and Uncle Jo’s wedding in New Hampshire this weekend, Mommy and Daddy started worrying about who was going to take care of Preston when they were away from their new home. Since Preston was still adjusting to the new home, Mommy and Daddy thought it would be a good idea if he went to a boarding kennel where he could hang out with other doggies as opposed to staying at home with a pet sitter. In the search for the best boarding kennels in Houston, Rover Oaks Pet Resort’s great customer reviews stood out the most. Mommy and Daddy made a visit and were given a tour of the facility. They were very pleased with what they saw and immediately booked a luxury suite for Preston (since it was Preston’s first time staying in a kennel, Mommy and Daddy wanted him to have a cozier room that feels like home. Next time, they are putting him in a standard room called “Bunkhouse” to toughen him up!). The luxury suites were so popular that Preston had to be on the wait list until a cancellation came up.
There are different packages including some extra services to go with the lodging. Preston got the package with the most playtimes (3 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the afternoon) that would hopefully tire him out.
Here are pictures of some of the nicely decorated luxury suites at Rover Oaks (photos taken from RoverOaks.com). Aren’t they cute? No wonder the reservation has to be made way early!

Preston stayed three nights at Rover Oaks. Mommy and Dadddy missed Preston so dearly over the weekend that they showed up at the door to pick him up as soon as Rover Oaks opened at 7am on Monday.
Mommy and Daddy made a special request to see Preston in his room and take some pictures. Preston was surprised to see Mommy and Daddy and looked a little confused.

He must have told the staff at Rover Oaks that he misses his best friends in California, Mina and Milo the Westies, so they gave him a room with the Westie theme.

Once Preston realized he got to go home with Mommy and Daddy, he was beside himself with excitement. (warning: you might want to turn down the volume of your speakers first)

New Home!

The moving company finally delivered Preston’s toys!
Before all the toys arrived, Mommy and Daddy got him a new stuffie and they named it “Tyson” (yes, after the famous skateboarding bulldog). He likes Tyson but still misses the rest of his toys.



Preston was really excited about seeing his toys. He couldn’t wait to unpack them.

Here is a video of Preston checking out his new apartment, which is twice as big as his Boston home, for the first time.

MA-TX Roadtrip #3

Preston is adjusting well to his new life in Houston.
Mommy and Daddy still have some more pictures to share from the last two days of their recent roadtrip.
As the family drove further south, the temperature and humidity were getting higher. In Atlanta, Mommy had to pour two bottles of water all over Preston (oh, he loved it!) before taking him to Centennial Olympic Park and Coca-Cola Museum to snap a couple of pictures.

Mommy and Daddy were very excited about their next stop – New Orleans, Louisiana! They remembered how happy their tummies were last time they visited this city.
New Orleans is a fun city to visit. French Quarter is always festive!


Preston didn’t get to taste the canjun cuisine Mommy and Daddy had but he wasn’t going to leave New Orleans without at least having a bite of Cafe Du Monde’s beignet!

Preston on TV!!

Awhile back, Mommy and Daddy were contacted by the production company about putting Preston on Animal Planet’s special called “Dogs vs. Cats“. They were thrilled that Preston could show the world how funny and smart he was on TV!
After months of anticipation, the show finally aired on Saturday. It was a very entertaining show and brought good laughs to Mommy and Daddy. In the show, dogs and cats go head-to-head in seven competitions: companionship, athleticism, cuteness, history, cleanliness, intelligence and cost. Preston represented the dogs in both companionship and intelligence competitions.
Here are some behind-the-scence photos during the filming of the intelligence competition.

After a week-long road trip, Preston arrived at his new home in Houston the night before “Dogs vs. Cats” aired. Mommy and Daddy brought a TV with them in the car and scheduled the cable installation on Saturday afternoon in time to catch the 7pm show. There were only a dogbed and a TV in the empty living room but tons of fun and laughter from watching the whole family on TV!

Hope many of you got to watch the show. If you missed it this weekend, a re-run is scheduled on August 7th (sat) 3pm ET/PT.
For those of you who don’t have access to Animal Planet, here is a brief summary.
In the Companionship competition, Preston was asked to choose between Mommy and 30 pounds of Bacon.

“Sorry, Mommy! 30lbs of bacon is once in a lifetime opportunity that no doggie can pass up…”

The winner in this competition went to Golden, the cat who chose his mommy over 30lbs of tuna. (but in Preston’s heart, he was the biggest winner that day. mmm…bacon…yum)

Later in the show, Preston faced a tough opponent in the intelligence category. He was going against Vegas show cats!
Mommy and Daddy were impressed by what those professional show cats could do but they had confidence in Preston.

Congrats! Preston won it for the dogs in the intelligence category! Mommy and Daddy were so proud!

Hope you enjoy the show!
Update: Clips of the show “Dogs vs. Cats”- Companionship and Intelligence