Pics for the day

I do things out of order and instead of waiting until I have the pics, writing the blog, and having everything in a neat little package, I just jump in and worry about the details later.

That being said, I finally got some great pics of Uno for today.

Here is Uno taking a nap at the office with my maltipoo, Musashi.

Uno has his appetite (after the neuter and the teeth cleaning yesterday) back! YUM!

And, as promised, here's a stationary pic of Uno with his kicking rad collar Love Bug Collar from Aroostudio.

Uno goes to the office!

Today was a tiny bit of a rough start as the cone and Uno do NOT mix, however we couldn't have him licking himself. So I was up just about all night off and on making sure he wasn't licking. We needed to keep an eye on him through the day, so it was time for another car ride. He actually took to it really well. He's becoming more adventurous and curious.

I attempted to snap pics of him at the office, but he was just too squirmy. I think he'll eventually love the camera, but for now I think I'm stuck with making videos. ;)

I also want to take this moment to shout out to our new friends, Bridget and Holden. Thanks for the new collar! He's wearing it proudly and looks so handsome in it. Extra special thanks to aroostudio for providing these collars to Beagle Freedom Project. They are seriously adorable.


Check him out!

Uno's first vet visit

I had been a bundle of nerves since last night. I mean here we were taking Uno on his second car ride with us, to the vet, to get neutered and teeth cleaned (and shots, too). Dogs are barking, there are foreign smells, I mean I felt just horrible for this boy. What would he think of me? Would he regress?

We are lucky enough that one of our best friends just so happens to be a vet. So we, at least, felt comfortable leaving him with his staff. We picked him up after work and he was actually doing fine. The vet agrees with our age assessment of 3-4 years, said that despite all the plaque, he has super healthy teeth, and so far blood work is great. We've got ourselves on healthy lab pup!

He was so loving and friendly to the staff, which just melted my heart. He genuinely loves people! One of the techs commented on just how beautiful he was - his coat, his stature - and said that if he didn't have his scars he'd be a prime candidate for a show dog. I agree. He really is breathtaking. xoxo

It wasn't until we were half way home I realized I flubbed this post by not getting a pic of Uno with his trusty Vet, but I figure once he's healed up and enjoying his car rides, we'll head over and snap up a couple then.

The poor little fella' is asleep in his favorite place right now. Unfortunately, because he's an avid "dog bits" licker, we'll have to put the e-collar on tonight. :(((

He's on YouTube!

I finally decided to make my first video on youtube and, of course, Uno is the star of the show. I will have more videos done as we go along, however I wanted the first one to document his scars as a reminder of his life in a lab.

The whole reason we're all here doing what we are doing, whether it's Beagle Freedom, or the group in Spain, or the foster parents, is to raise awareness of animal testing.

Dogs, monkeys, rats, pigs...all are raised as test subjects for drug companies, cosmetic companies, and house hold items. It's disgusting, it's inhumane, and something that S. and I feel very strongly about.

Uno may be one of forty that was rescued, but how many others are out there that aren't going to be given the chance he and his friends received if we don't bring attention to this?

What's a treat?

Before I get into the meat of what this blog is about, I finally got notified that there were comments to be moderated and I can't stop crying. I never thought this blog would become what it has in just a few short days and the comments are beautiful and uplifting. Thank you so much. And Uno thanks you too.

I know I have it on the side bar to the right, but if you can't foster or adopt but want to help these amazing dogs, please, please donate to Beagle Freedom Project. Thank you thank you thank you. xoxo

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Now, keep in mind these dogs have not learned how to be dogs. They don't know how to walk on a leash, they don't know that outside is for potty, they don't know treats or toys. I've seen that some of these pups learned many of these already, however Uno is on his own time, which is fine by us.

BUT we also know that in order to train, we need positive reinforcement and for most dogs that comes in the form of treats. Initially, Beagle Rescue Project gave us a couple different treats to try, which we've had zero luck with. So, we bought some at Trader Joes. And, no luck. Tried these chicken strip things from Whole Foods...again, nada. So we went to Centinela where we bought 3 different kinds of treats. *sigh* Big, fat no.

It's become quite hilarious, actually, because earlier tonight I lined up our "treat stash" and took a pic.

We also bought Uno a new harness, one without velcro as that one was just too loud and freaking him out, and he looks amazing. He'll be able to be buckled in with ease as we whisk him to his first vet appointment tomorrow morning. Poor guy goes in for the works: neuter, shots, teeth cleaning, health review. I have never been more nervous or anxious for a vet visit.

Mama freaks out, cuddles ensue

I attempted to get Uno to come to work with us this morning and he wanted nothing to do with it. So rather than push him too much too fast, I put him in our room and left him alone around 10a.

About 1p, my anxiety started up - I needed to figure out how to get to Uno. Let him know he wasn't abandoned, let him relieve himself, see if he's okay. Unfortunately, I had a pile of work to get to since we just came off a long holiday weekend. 3:30p rolls around and I'm almost sick to my stomach I'm so anxious. My mind raced as I drove home: "is he okay?", "is the room a complete mess?" "will he revert back because I left him alone?"

I open the door to find him looking at me as if to say "hi!". His tail wags and he comes to greet me. Aside from one little accident and S.'s glasses on the floor (not broken), he was a perfect little boy!

I promised him cuddle time for me leaving him alone, so we snuggled on the couch and I've got a few pics of that.

"I'm checking this blog where you keep writing about me...it's cool."

Cuddles with mama on the couch is awesome.

Now accepting coffee donations for foster parents

Night 3 commenced in our household and the ease of going right to sleep was too good to be true. Around 1a we got our wake up call - actually I mean I got my wake up call, lucky S. slept through THAT particular round of needing attention.

I went back to sleep and around 3a, we got another wake up call. This time it seemed Uno wanted to try to be on the bed. He stayed on for about 15 min and about 5 min in, he decided his foster daddy needed to be given Uno cuddles. This is where S. woke up because Uno was standing on his chest. It was startling to S., but I was all giggles at 3a.

S. got up with Uno around 6a to bring him outside and now we're gearing up for his second car ride to take him to the office with us and our pups! I'm dreaming of a nap already.... *yawn*