Monday, April 30, 2012

Update: Diesel’s Dilemma

I decided to give you an update on my darling Diesel for those of you wondering how his training is going.  We had a trainer come meet him in March and after discussing our goals for Diesel she set a plan for us.  Codiy & I both agreed that we trusted her, we liked her style of training, she was a reasonable price, & she would come to our house every two weeks until we felt confident to do it alone.  She came to our house ONE time and hasn’t been back.  Her first paying visit was supposed to be the day after St. Patrick’s day, I called and asked if we could reschedule because I knew we would be hung over, I was thinking ahead.  The next week, she called and canceled because she had to go out of town.  The third visit she was supposed to be at our house at noon, around 12:15 I checked my cell phone and I had a missed call from her stating she wasn’t going to come over until she heard from us, “she didn’t want to drive all the way to our house if we weren’t going to be there…” I was sort of taken back, before we met the first time she rescheduled on us 3 times in a row, the day of the visit, with only a few hours’ notice, so we weren’t the unreliable ones in this relationship.  I took a deep breath and called her back.  No answer.  I texted her.  No reply.  I then allowed myself to get upset.  It’s practically May and she still hasn’t called/texted us back, very odd, but I suppose it wasn’t meant to be.  Needless to say, we decided to do it on our own using the great tips she gave us and keeping her assessment of Diesel in mind.   We would’ve seeked out another trainer but everything we’ve been doing has been working. 

If you don’t remember, we were told Diesel “owns” too much.  He doesn’t have to ask permission to do anything, so we started making boundaries, on EVERYTHiNG that he does.  {You can read here to catch up}.

I’m happy to report that we stopped squirting him in the face with water, not because we feel evil {which was the case in the beginning} but because he doesn’t need it anymore, I will say this, that was an ingenious idea that wasn’t harmful and we saw results instantly, which we didn’t expect. 

He now only barks at the front door MAYBE once a day, and it’s usually because there are people right out front in the drive way; but instead of a constant barking paired with frantic pacing until we would go and check it out it’s now ONE MASSiVE bark which we reply by yelling his name and then telling him to “go lay down,” in his time out spot, which he does, without arguing.  One night after instructing him to do so, we forgot about it, and he laid there for 30 minutes, it was awesome!

Now that we have people ignoring him completely, his anxiety has gone down soooooooooo much!  A stranger was able to pet his head without him even noticing over the weekend.  We’d still rather new people pet his neck or belly until we’re 100% sure he’s not scared of them, but he was totally fine with it, so we were too.

All & all, he's a happy puppy

Thursday, April 26, 2012

CalifornYEAH!

We recently got everything finalized so I can now share our excitement!  For the past three months we’ve been planning a trip to Southern California and It’s been a process!  I know what you’re thinking, “What’s so hard about buying two round-trip tickets, renting a convertible, & booking a nice hotel room on the beach?”  Well, smarty pants, we’re not doing any of that.  Since we don’t enjoy asking our friends & family to watch our dogs, we decided the best thing to do is take them with us… Yep, ROADTRiP!!!! {I’m the most excited about that! ß See, I even wrote multiple exclamation points to drive that fact home, I’m seriously stoked! ßthere it is again!} 
I can picture Diesel laying in the water with his head up high as the waves crash against him and Lady Lashes running up to all the people demanding their attention, both of them wearing their UV protective rashguards, hats, & possibly life vest
 
Yes, I’m buying them all of that.  Diesel I know for a fact wont swim without a life vest, he’ll get in the water but doesn’t like swimming without it.  Can you blame him?  160 lbs. is hard to keep a float strictly by doggie paddling.  As for Lashes Love, I don’t know if she’s ever been swimming, and since she’s so small, I’ll have to bring it as a just in case factor.  It’ll all get used again, our best friends have a boat so I see this gear as investments {feel free to judge, I hear myself, and I don’t care!}
I digressed, back to our planning process.  Since we’re driving and bringing the puppies, it’s not easy finding a location that allows dogs Diesel’s size.  We COULD have stayed at a La Quinta Inn & Suites {they’re like Holiday Inn Expresses, we’re members, and they don’t have weight limits on dogs} but we wanted a yard for the dogs to be able to play in, also the added convenience of being able to leave them outside while we go out on our adventures.  They are inside dogs but at home when it’s a pretty day, we come home from work to a yard full of their toys, and a nice day in Houston is every day in California so they’ll want to lounge for sure.

SO by using VRBO, Home Away, Flip Key, Vacation Rentals, & Google; I found 46 potential rentals in Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, & Huntington Beach area that are all pet friendly.  This was how I kept track, I know very Type "A" of me
We quickly decided that Huntington was too far away from all the action and we didn’t want to spend 60% of our trip in the car {I mean, we're already driving there}, Los Angeles was too far from a beach, and Santa Monica & Hermosa Beach were too $$$ so we isolated it down to just Venice Beach.  At the end of February we found a couple that was renting out their guesthouse, it was small, but it seemed perfect.  We corresponded back in forth for about 3 weeks sizing each other up asking questions, etc… When Cody & I decided that we indeed wanted to stay there I explained to her that we were waiting on our tax refund check before we could paid the $500 deposit {which we wouldn’t get back until 14 days after our trip which I found odd}, but I would be willing to pay $250 to show her we were serious.  She told me that it was fine, we could just fill out and return the contract she sent me and since we were expecting our refund within the next two weeks, she could wait… Well, we received our check on a Thursday, I told her that day, we paid her via PayPal and on Sunday it was refunded with an message saying they rented it to someone else… “YOU BiT…” *DEEP BREATHE* So it was back to the drawing board.  I re-contacted people that were more expensive but in the same area, a lot of them no longer had vacancies, so we started to worry.  After doing another sweep on Home Away I found two prospects and they both sounded fantastic! 
One is a Studio Apartment
It’s attached to the owner’s house that is a 5 min drive to the beach, the couple actually has rental property in the Houston Heights, and she fosters dogs so her and her husband are very dog friendly, but they didn’t have a washer & dryer and we wouldn’t be able to walk to anything, we would have to drive.

The other one is a Bungalow 4 blocks from the beach:
It doesn’t have a high fenced grass yard which is why we’re hesitant to rent it, but we figured we can buy the fake grass to lay out on top the patio.  I mean it has a hot tub, it’s near Abbot Street, & they have a washer & dryer.
We were having trouble choosing so I posted a vote on this blog and everyone said to go with the Bungalow, which is exactly what we did! 
This is where we’ll be spending our first four nights in Venice Beach:
We’re only 0.3 miles from the beach
Now that our accommodations are finalized it feels more real and we can get to the fun stuff, like buying the things we’ll need for our trip & planning our excursions!  When we vacation we like to “live like locals,” and be going none stop, we normally need a “stay-cation” after returning from our vacations! 
{For our honeymoon we only had one out of six days where we did absolutely nothing, and we ended up napping that day because we got bored.} 
Our initial plan is to leave on Tuesday evening/night and drive 16-17 hours to either Tucson or Phoenix, Arizona.  Our goal is to arrive before 10:00 am on Wednesday.  We’ll check in to a La Quinta Inn & Suites where we’ll sleep for a few hours, shower, eat, recoup, etc… then either leave that night or early the next morning for the remaining 8 hour drive to Venice Beach.  My Bubeleh said he wants to see if we can make it all the way to California in one trip, of course stopping for the puppies & potty breaks {the 2 “Ps”} but we’re going to play that by ear.  Our main focus is not being exhausted our first day, we don’t won’t to be useless, we actually want to venture out and explore the neighborhood. 
We’re planning on visiting Santa Monica Pier, hiking the Hollywood sign, people watching on Venice Beach, Catching a T.V. or Talk show taping in Burbank, eating lunch at the Ivy, Seeing the stars down Hollywood blvd, taking our photo in front of the Chinese Theater, eating at Rosco’s Chicken & Waffles, spending a day in Malibu, visiting the Getty Museum, window shop on Rodeo Drive, see the Griffith Observatory, & visit with a few friends.  I created a PiN BOARD on Pinterest to tag the places I mentioned and a few restaurants that were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives as well as Man vs. Food.
If you can think of anything else that we HAVE to go do, or places we HAVE to eat at, please post a comment! 

The remaining 3 nights of our trip will be spent in San Diego! 
We don’t check into our cute single family home until 4:00 pm so we’re going to spend the morning in Huntington Beach.  I want to take Diesel & Lashes to Dog Beach, they’re going to LOVE it. 
After lunch on the beach we’ll drive our last hour to San Diego.
We’re staying in a “Cute and cozy 2 bedroom 1 bath cottage with a totally private feel. The front yard is completely fenced in with 12 foot high hedges providing a hideaway that allows you to stretch out and relax in the yard as well as the living room. The backyard is very spacious to give even the most energetic dogs room room to play! The interior of this home has every last amenity that you'll need to enjoy your stay. The kitchen and bathroom are completely updated as well as the rest of the house. Hardwood floors and custom paint as well as quality furnishings throughout, will make even our high maintenance travelers happy. There is also a 2 car garage for secure off street parking.  Dogs are allowed. 2 Dog per reservation maximum. The property is completely fenced in and very safe for our 4 legged friends. There is even a kennel in the back yard to secure the dog while you are away for his/her protection.” 
{I copied & pasted the VRBO description.}
 “It’s only 8 blocks from the beach and 4 blocks from the bay.  This amazing rental property is located in Pacific Beach of San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, Interstate 5 to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While largely populated by young people, surfers, and college students, the population is becoming older, more professional, and more affluent due to rising property and rental costs. 'P.B.,' as it is known as by local residents, is home to one of San Diego's larger nightlife scenes, with dozens of bars, eateries, and clothing stores.”
I’ve only heard amazing things about San Diego so we’re really excited to holiday there!  I can’t wait to visit their zoo & eat at La Jolla Beach and appreciate the sea lions, that’s going to be so neat!  We’re also planning on visiting the Gaslamp District, Del Mar, maybe hit up Ocean Beach, Laguna Beach, Old Town San Diego {there’s a few haunted places here!!}, & Hotel Del Coronado. 
If you know of anything else, please let us know!!
I’m determined to blog every night/morning about our outings, purchases, events, etc… throughout this 11 day adventure. 
We’re going to try and film some stuff too, we’ll try and make it interesting, promise!

PS:
I'd like to say a special thank you to my cousin, Monique, who will be house sitting for us while we're gone... THANK YOU!!!

Monday, April 23, 2012

CALiFORNi A or B?

We’re planning a family trip to California in June, yes, we’re bringing Diesel & Lashes, so you know what that means?  ROADTRiP!  We found two places that are happy to rent to us, now we have to decide which one we want to stay at,
which would be your vote?

Keep in mind they are both VERY dog friendly, they both included cable/satellite television, & two beach bike cruisers.

OPTiON A: THE BUNGALOW 





OPTION B: STUDIO



Which one do you vote for
A or B?