Daddy was attending a conference in Austin, TX last week. Mommy and Preston got to tag along and made it a family trip.
Austin is a very charming city and super dog friendly! Preston’s long-time blogging buddy, Coco the Puggle, lives in Austin. Coco and her mommy Lena told Preston all the fun places to visit in Austin.

Preston was hoping to meet up with Coco but unfortunately, Coco had to stay home since both her Mommy and Daddy had to work. Coco’s mommy Lena works in a very dog friendly fancy shopping center so Preston stopped by and said hello. Lena had told her friends at work all about Preston so when he arrived, he got the “celebrity welcome”. Look how much he enjoyed the attention from all the glamorous ladies at the cosmetic department at Neiman Marcus.

Mommy and Daddy would be the first to admit they didn’t used to practice good dog car safety eventhough they knew how important it was. Preston could sit anywhere he wanted in the car and was never buckled up. Shame on Mommy and Daddy!

But that was all in the past. Preston is now always buckled up when riding in the car. Mommy got him a zip-line type of seatbelt that keeps Preston safe but still allows him some freedom in the car.
On Mommy’s car, also known as Puggle Mobile because it is Preston’s primary ride (and full of Preston’s hair), Mommy uses PETCO Zipline Dog Seat Belt. The zipline is hooked onto the rear passenger seatbelt tabs. The adjustable leash that comes with the zipline is attached to Preston’s harness. Preston can still stand on his favorite spot in the car-the center console. Occasionally, Mommy extends the leash so Preston can sleep in the front seat but remains buckled.

On Daddy’s car, Daddy uses KURGO Zipline and hooks it onto the rear passenger overhead handles. He also uses a seat protector that can be zipped up to become a bucket to catch Preston’s shedding hair.

FYI: PETCO zipline and KURGO zipline are virtually identical except for the logo and the color.

The seat cover is made by “Outing Dog”. We like it a lot. It doesn’t have openings for passenger seatbelt use but works well with the zipline seatbelt attached to the overhead handles. There is also a smaller version of this seat cover available that only takes up half of the space. We found ours on Amazon.com. They can also be found on the wholesale website, dhgate.com or dinodirect.com.

Preston has the funniest Halloween costumes this year…yes, costumeS. Mommy got not one but two costumes for him.
Guess what Preston is this year?

A mounted moose head!

and a rodeo bull!

Preston was at Howl-o-ween dog walk held by CAP (Citizens for Animal Protection) on Saturday. There were many dogs (and humans) dressed up for the costume contest.

These angels were Mommy’s favorite.

This family took home first prize!

Mommy thinks it was the baby won it for the family.

Halloween event was fun but could be quite tiring too. Preston is going nite-nite in his Halloween pajamas.

Halloween 2009, 2008 and 2007.

Preston was at Barkitecture Houston on Saturday. It is a yearly event where architects and designers create dog houses to be auctioned off to benefit an animal rescue organization called Pup Squad. The participating dog houses are displayed for the silent auction and anyone can place bids on their favorite dog houses or buy-it-now for $500.
Preston did some house hunting at the event.

Preston liked this house so much Mommy and Daddy almost brought it home.

Apparently, Preston did not find this event mascot funny.

The highlight of the event for Preston!

Mommy found a wonderful dog treat at the event. It is Chef’s Buddiez jerky treats, made with all natural and human grade chicken, duck and sweet potatoes. The treats smell so good they make Mommy’s mouth water. They are created by a real human chef.

Preston also came home with a new stylish leather collar from Dosha Dog.

Preston recieved some very thoughtful presents from his puggle buddies.
Coco the Puggle sent Preston a welcome-to-Texas package. Included in the package are a Green Sea Turtle stuffie, a doggie placemat and a picture of the adorable Coco.
Green Sea Turtle is known to Preston by its scientific name Chelonia mydas (Isn’t Preston the smartest?) Knowing Chelonia is an endangered speices, Preston is taking good care of his new stuffie.

Coco must have been able to read Mommy’s mind and known she was looking for a new placemat for Preston’s puggle feeder.
It is perfect! Thank you, Coco!

Preston also recieved a surprise package from Poochy the puggle.
An edible greeting card (called Crunch card)! How cute!

A buffalo tripe treat! Poochy knows the best that puggles love stinky treats. Mommy had to put on gloves before touching this treat. That is how “aromatic” it is. You rock, Poochy!

Mommy always admires the cute harnesses Poochy wears (he has quite a collection). Poochy picked one out for Preston too!
“Hey, you think I look cool?”

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…)

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.

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.

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.

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!