Joker Face

J-j-j-joker face, j-j-joker face
If this doesn't make you smile I don't know what will...

Chillin' Out

I'm starting to brave the big pool more and more everyday. Today I even made it to the 2nd step. ONce I even stepped off and took a very short, unexpected swim to mama. Thank goodness she was there to help me back to the step. That water was deep. Here are a few pictures today's fun experience.







As you can see, I'm really diggin this first step.

Toby

This is just too cute not to post. Toby sleeping with his head proped up on mama's knee.

Fireworks

This is my first 4th of July and I can tell you right now... I"m not a fan of those exploding lights in the sky. Just look at my face. Do I look like I'm enjoying them??? My human mama was nice enough to make me this safe little hiding place till our neighbors quit popping the exploding lights.

Here's a few of those lights I'm talking about. They were so LOUD!!!

Here's me again.. Still hiding. I think I stayed here all night.

The BIG Pool

I'm trying to get the courage up to jump into the Big Pool. The little puppy pool is great for little splashes and having a drink of water of but boy, would that big pool be a blast.

I wonder how deep that water is???

If only I was as brave and Camden.

Hey Cam.... Can I maybe borrow your floaties???

So I decided that since I'm not brave enough to tackle the big pool yet I would just stick with my puppy pool. Then Camden decided to join me. Doesn't he know that this is a puppy pool??? I want him OUT!!!

Well then..... Take that!!!!!

That will teach him to get in my pool again....

Tucker's new Toy

I got a pool today!!!!

As you can see I'm loving it. I sure needed it in this near 100 deg Texas temps.

Mud Buds

Camden met me at the back door looking like this.

My first reaction was "OMG" I couldn't get angry because it was just too funny, so I ran and got my camera. Camden took me to the mud hole he and Tucker had been playing in. Tucker had dug a hole so deep that he hit water and in turn made a huge mud hole.

Tucker is a bad influence on Camden. Camden would have never gotten into that mud if it weren't for Tucker.

After the fun was over it was time to wash up. I wasn't about to let Camden into the house looking like that so I had to hose him off. He thought it would be fun till he saw how cold that water was. The mud had already started to stick in a few places and it took some scrubbing to get it off. Even after hosing him down the tub was still a mess once he got out of it. That kid had mud in his ears, up his nose and other places I won't mention.

Thief

So today Tucker succeeded in taking Toby's favorite toy dog and ripping the head off. He's been trying to get that stuff dog for months. He's like a big kid picking him his little brother. He knows that it was Toby's toy so took it just to piss him off. He would run around in the back yard with it in his mouth. As I tried to take it from him he would run off. It's alot easier just to buy Toby a new toy than to try taking that one from Tucker.

The Destroyer

Some of the things that Tucker has destroyed....
A pillow
A blanket that was in his kennel
Cushions off the outside swing
wiring for our speakers
a speaker (took it off the top of the shelf and it's busted into pieces)
two water hoses
2 soaker hoses
Shoes
more action figures than I care to count
2 footballs
Brian's swimsuit
an outdoor rug

I know there will be more so stay tuned....

Neutering Day

The day finally came for him to be "fixed" He couldn't have anything to eat after 8:00 pm the night before. I dropped him off at 7:30 Saturday morning. Walking in he knew something was going to happen. He was a little more nervous than normal. I walked him back to one of the kennels and as the lady opened he took off running. Good thing the leesh was still on, he didn't get far. As I was leaving the vet told to pick him up after 5:00pm.
I returned right around 5:00. He was laying in kennel still kind of out of it from the sedatives they had given him. He had this big shade around his head preventing him from gnawing or bitting at his stitches. They said that he needed to wear the "Shade" for 10 days. That was a sight to see. Him and his "lamp shade". That thing didn't make it 5 days. He somehow figured out how to chew it off 4 days later night. That morning I wake up to find this shade hanging off his neck. So much for that. Luckily he didn't pick at his stitches and healed up nicely.

Snake Bite

On March 8th, Jade and I came home from grocery shopping. Brian met me at the door telling me to look at Tucker. He said his head looked funny. Poor Tuck his head was so swollen. He could barely open his eyes and he was panting and drooling a lot. It being Sunday, all the vets were closed. I gave him 2 Benadryl thinking that he was having an allergic reaction. The more I researched the more I come to realize that he had more than likely gotten been bitten by a snake. By morning most of the swelling had gone down except for a place on the right side of his mouth where the snake had obviously bit him. Too bad he didn't have that lamp shade on then.

Tucker's Boo Boo

On Friday, Feb 6th Tucker had just turned 5 mo old and he was to go in the next morning to be "Fixed" at Cause for Paws. When we got home from school he was as excited as ever too see us. But within an hour he came to the back door limping. He was unable to put down his back right leg. I waited till the next morning and called the vet. They told me to come drop him off and they would try working him in. In the mean time I also called Cause for Paws to cancel his appt to be neutered. I wondered if this was all an act to save his balls. LOL After 3 hours the vet clinics called asking if I could come back and speak to the vet. Apparently Tucker had torn his ACL in his knee. So that meant at least 4-6 weeks of him being kennel bound, only coming out on a leash to go potty. He also had to get shots in his knee starting out 3x a week for 2 weeks, then 2x a week, then once a week. These shots started out at $26 for every shot. The price was determined by his weight. His first day at the vet he weighed 48lbs. By the time his 4 weeks were up he was up to 63lbs and we were paying $32 a pop. This $100 dog has turned into an expensive dog. Finally, after 4 weeks we were giving the OK for him to come out of his kennel more often and get some exercise. It was a long time coming.

Camden felt bad that Tucker had a boo boo. He got in the kennel with him and covered him with his favorite choochoo blanket.

Meeting the Other Pets

Tucker was excited to have new "Friends" Toby and Lily, although I can't say that they felt the same. That goes twice for our cat, Punkin. It didn't take Tucker long to learn that he's not to mess with the cat. A couple pops on the nose is all it took.

The Middle Name

As with all our dogs, Tucker needed a middle name. Tucker Boy, Tucker Joe......Nothing seemed to fit till Jeremy jokingly said Tucker Bear. I thought it went well together we so we stuck with it.

Surpise Gift

Meet Tucker.... Tucker joined our family Dec. 4, 2008. He was a surprise Christmas gift to the kids. We thought it would be nice to have another outside dog that the kids could play with after loosing Daisy, our cocker mix of 10 yrs in April 2008. After searching adds in the paper I came across an add for 12 week old Black Lab puppies for sale. They were full blood but had no papers so we got off "cheap" paying only $100.

As I drove up to the house of the people that owned the pups, I see 5 little black puppies playing in the yard. The first one to greet me was Tucker. They all looked just alike except for Tucker, had the "Block" jaw where the others didn't. He was the one I wanted. After playing with the pups for a while I noticed the puppy that I wanted was sitting away from us hunkered down by the house acting a bit timmid and shy. It was as if he knew he was the chosen one. I kind of felt bad for taking him. All the way home he sit on the floor board of the van whippering. It was such a pitiful sound. When I got him home I snuck him into the kitchen and called the kids in. The kids (all except Jeremy) were so excited to see this little guy. Tucker, not being use to all the excited scrouched in a corner with his tail tucked under him, hints where the name Tucker came from.
On Dec 8th I took Tucker for his first set of shots. He was 28lbs. Two weeks later he got his second set of shots and his weight jumped up to 36lb. Then another month went by and we got his last set of shots and he then weighed 43lbs. At that time I made an appt to get him neutered on Feb 7nd.

Christmas and New Years came and went with just a few incidents. Sure, he had a few accidents in the house when he was inside, which was often since it was cold out, but other than that things were going pretty good. He hadn't started the chewing and I was thinking that we got off lucky. Nights were a little rough since he had to stay in the kennel to sleep. At first he whinned and wimpered alot but after a few days he only whin for a little bit and would calm down and sleep all night.

Things were going well. Now if I could just get Brian to like him. This was never his idea. He only said yes to getting another dog because Corey and Jade had been asking for one. If he had his way we would never have dogs. He wanted nothing to do with the puppy. He wouldn't even pet him. Hopefully in time he would grow to like Tucker, even if it's just a little.