Life with Wynnie

Life with two dogs has been a bit of an adjustment from life with only one. No one has had to adjust more than big sister Leia, who sulked a bit and physically shunned JB and me for the first few days after we brought Wynnie (Eowyn) home. There's more poop to pick up in the backyard each week, too, and sometimes they will chime in and bark at the same things together.

Having two dogs is also a great deal of fun and is more than worth the trouble they can cause. Like her older sister, Wynnie has an incredibly nurturing nature. She been a great addition to our home. Even with all of the wrestling she and Leia engage in on a daily basis, during which they briefly don't like each other much, they have also become great friends.

Whenever one of us is out of the house, this is a common sight:

That's Wynnie, looking down the hallway to where the garage door opens. Dogs have this amazing ability to make you feel like the most important person in the world—the most important person in the world to them, anyway. And that's more than enough.

Eowyn

Well ... Leia now has a little sister.

We adopted Eowyn, another golden doodle, on Wednesday night. We have mostly been referring to her by the nickname Wynnie, which stands to reason because we are now potty training her, and she goes #2 a lot ... if you catch my drift.

Leia has been dealing with no longer being the Top Dog, so to speak, with a little bit of jealousy. But she's already made a bit of progress in just a few days' time. It's been fun watching the two of them wrestle together and interact in myriad other ways.

Chalk Art Festival

The Bountiful Chalk Art Festival made its return to the sidewalks of Main Street last week. We took Leia out for a stroll to observe many of these incredible drawings. Among them were pieces drawn by (1) Biz and Kate and (2) McKenna.

Here's Leia, in front of Biz's and Kate's square:

McKenna had not yet completed her Alice in Wonderland-inspired project, but anyway here is what it looked like when we walked by:

Leia was very popular with the other festivalgoers (is ... is that a word?). She received a lot of attention everywhere we went. In fact, she was so overwhelmed by the time we stopped to chat with some friends of mine and their seven children—almost all of whom petted and fawned over her—that she soon grew tired and was raring to go home afterward.

So, that was a first.

Star Wars Day

May 4th, aka Star Wars Day, has now become an occasion for holding a family party. And why shouldn't it?

I'm Paco, and I approve this message.

We gathered at Ben's and Adi's home last night for this occasion. Our puppy, Leia, was dressed to the nines in her Chewbacca harness:

Yes, I realize how odd it is having a dog named Leia not wearing any Princess Leia buns on the sides of her head. (We don't have any for her yet.)

Speaking of which, we sampled a number of Star Wars-inspired goodies, including as Princess Leia buns:

We watched a few episodes of "The Clone Wars" TV show. (It being a school night, we didn't try to get through a movie.) Kids of all ages—but more specifically, the niblings—enjoyed the various activities, such as decorating their own droids, a great deal.

May the Fourth be with you!

Leia's First Birthday

On Wednesday, we celebrated Leia's first birthday by taking her out for a pup-uccino (yes, it's a real thing) at her favorite drink spot. Wednesday also marked ten months to the day that she adopted JB and me as her caregivers and came to our humble home. She is enthusiastic and playful but also loving and cuddly. She has made our lives somewhat less boring.

Life with Leia

I'm really grateful we brought Leia into our lives when we did. Having a puppy at home has made quarantining and social distancing a lot better and something much more entertaining than it otherwise would have been.

When I come home from a long day of work, this is usually the sight that awaits me when I walk into the kitchen:

Dogs have this incredible, innate ability to make you personally feel like you are the center of their universe. (Jana caught this view and sent it to me.)

Leia also really loves licking things and licking me, in particular. I suppose dogs have their love languages, too, and licking is one of Leia's primary methods. It's not uncommon for her to climb up on the arm of the couch and try to lick my face, head, and hair, which often leaves me looking like this:

We're still working on boundaries.

Socially Distant Family BBQ

With warmer weather on the way, BBQ season is also fast approaching. Even with social distancing guidelines in place, the Plowbuckles (JB and I) were still able to gather with Biz and Jeff, Ben and Adi, and their kids Friday night in perfect spring weather for a BBQ in West Bountiful.

We brought Leia along, and she had a great time running around the spacious backyard there. She was also a big hit with the kids (not as big of a hit with Kuma, Ben's and Adi's dog, however) and got in a lot of "Fetch," one of her favorite games.

The kids, likewise, had a great time playing together. Not only are our wonderful nieces and nephews cousins to each other, but they are becoming good friends.

The menu for the evening included hamburgers and cheeseburgers, along with pasta salad, chips, and other goodies. JB provided cookies for the dessert.

Fixing Leia

Our sweet puppy, Leia, whom we've had in our home and in our care for over three months now, had her suspicious organs removed Monday. JB took advantage of a short work week and took the rest of the weekdays off to stay with her and care for her in her recovery.

This is a shot of our brave girl on the car ride home from the animal hospital, wearing the cone of shame as she came out of anesthesia:

Since then, we've removed the cone of shame and replaced it with a much more comfortable onesie that has prevented her from licking or biting her stitches. She's doing really well today, and we've enjoyed this small Thanksgiving at home that we've spent together.

Arbuckle Family Dinner/November 2019

On Sunday afternoon, we traveled out to Grantsville for monthly family dinner with JB's parents, siblings, and niblings. That's a lot of family members, but even with so many running around, it's always a good time.

Leia came with us, and she enjoyed all of the extra attention she received. Spencer is especially good with her and keeps her humble.

One of the benefits to having in-laws is two Thanksgivings, and that's what was on the menu for this day: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, a pumpkin roll, and all of that good stuff.

Obedience School

Last week, Leia completed a six-week obedience school course at Coddled Critters, located near us in North Salt Lake. JB did the grunt work in finding out the details, signing her up, and taking her to all of the classes, and I joined in attending for about half of them.

Here's JB and Leia on graduation night:

This doesn't mean we have a perfectly behaved puppy, of course, but she has gained valuable skills through this class, and we hope to build on them at home.

Leia

I now have two curly-haired brunettes in my life.

We picked up Leia, a mini golden doodle who is much more doodle than golden, Saturday morning. In the days since, we have been going through the growing pains (separation anxiety and potty training) of pet ownership together, but we've also had a lot of fun along the way.