Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful and blessed holiday from Rocco & Molly.
We love you all!

Christmas Card Pictures

For those of you waiting for our holiday card to arrive in the mail, you may be waiting a bit longer.

This is the quality of picture that I have been collecting for our card photo:







Hopefully we can get our cards out BRFORE Christmas.

Hopefully?

An average Sunday afternoon

This past Sunday, I decided to make meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner. And as usual, I was trying to get my chores done, too.
The potatoes were on the stove and the loaf was in the oven, so I decided to go out and clean up the yard of any "doggie droppings".
You know what I mean.
As I reached for the pooper-scooper, something moved and I jumped.
As I looked down, I saw this....



Yes, a rattlesnake in Chicago.

OK, maybe it was a garden snake, but it LOOKED like a Rattler to me!
I'm just saying.

So of course my plan of action was to leave the snake where he was and do something else.

So I walk back into the house and hear two dogs fighting over the same dog toy.
That's nothing new in our house.
But the actual TOY was new...



Somehow they got a potato and were fighting over it.
Here is Rocco guarding it...


And Molly trying to steal it...


After taking the potato away from two disappointed dogs, I decided to further humiliate them by trying on their Halloween costumes. We will post an "official" picture later, but here is sample of the costume.



Ketchup and Mustard.
Actually, if they had an oil and water costume that would have fit them better, but ketchup and mustard works for this year.

A twist of fate and a sister

Here is the conversation between my husband and a new co-worker about their respective dogs.

I have a Rottweiler/Doberman mix.
Really? I have a Rottweiler/Doberman mix!

He is 3-years old.
Really, my dog is 3-years old!

We got him at the Humane Society.
I got MY dog at the Humane Society.

Was your puppy quarantined for 2-weeks like Rocco was because of kennel cough before you could pick her up?
Yes, she was!

Did your dogs' original name start with the letter "i"? Because Rocco's original name was Issac.
Yes, it did. We changed it to Chula!

Yes, that dog is Rocco's sister! Her owners have read this blog and said that Chula looks and ACTS exactly like Rocco. We hope to set up a sibling reunion and will post pictures.
What a coincidence!

Updates

Sorry. We have been so busy with the new shop. Here are a few updates.
Molly hurt her leg Thursday night. We thought she had hurt her shoulder. She was not putting any weight on her front leg. After her $2,500 ACL surgery in 2007, and then the next $2,500 ACL surgery in 2008, we we convinced that she was really hurt and that it would cost us a fortune.
THANKFULLY, after a $58 Vet visit, we were told that she just had a stubbed toe.
She is now known as Molly the Money Pit.
Molly loves to come to the shop, and has befriended our dog bather, Joanna. Molly has become her shadow, following her everywhere. It's really very sweet.
Rocco loves to come to the shop as well, but mostly to bark at anyone driving by or walking by the shop.
He is our one-dog security team.
Molly is the professional greeter.
That's all for now. Will update soon!

It's Official

We own a doggie groomimg shop, soon to be known as a Doggie Day Spa.
And Rocco and Molly are thrilled.

Here is Rocco jumping into the picture on our first day. He thinks it's HIS shop.


Here is Rocco helping his daddy answer the phones...


Here is Rocco AND Molly stealing merchandise off the wall. They don't understand that the toys are for sale, not for their own personal use.




Here is our security team, barking and growling at everyone that walks/drives by.




Task Number One: Trying to acclimate them to WELCOMING the clients, not scaring them away.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Guess?

I came home tonight and found this on the kitchen rug. Can youy guess what it means?


It means that Rocco threw up, and my husband (with his weak stomach) decided to COVER it up other than CLEAN it up. saving it for me until I got home.
Welcome to my world.

An "America's Got Talent" Fan

Do you happen to see tonight's episode of America's Got Talent?
It featured Rory, the Frisbee catching dog.


Apparently, Rory caught more than Frisbees.
He caught Rocco's attention.




It's nights like these that we appreciate our Tivo, since we rewound Rory's segment at least 10-times to laugh at Rocco.
Each time we got the same reaction.
He growled at the TV.
We are so easily amused.

Hanging out in the yard

Rocco and Molly love sitting on the patio with us. They actually (usually) behave themselves, too.


Molly is always the happiest outside.




Rocco looks so big here!


Rocco in the late afternoon summer sunlight.


These are the pictures that I flip through on a 20 degree winter night.
The dog days of summer.

Rocco sure LOVES his Daddy

Maybe "loves" is a bit mild.
I think Rocco is POSSESSIVE of his daddy.
You be the judge...






Rocco loves to be hand-in-hand with his daddy...




Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole

A BIG DOG AND A HORSE!

We just took the dogs for a walk at the park. They are wound up pretty tight tonight, so we decided that a short walk would do all of us good.
It was just getting dark, and as we got to the park, a family of 5 on bikes peddled past us. The littlest child, on a tricycle, pointed at our dogs and yelled to his parents "LOOK! A BIG DOG AND A HORSE!".
Apparently tonight, in the twilight, Rocco looked like a horse.
Too funny!

Thank Goodness for Old Navy

They have flip-flops on sale, 2 pairs for $5.
Because as you can see, someone whose name we won't mention, is craving the taste of flip-flops.
Again.

Notice the guilty look on his face.

4,000 hits and a day from hell

Thank you to all who read this blog. Today we will reach 4,000 hits.
Rocco is a VERY BAD BOY and may not make it to, say, 4,005 hits.
In the past HOUR he:
My have killed a bird in the back yard. I didn't have my camera, and if I did I would NOT have taken a picture of his bird-feather covered face. The bird was still moving as Rocco dropped it, and I am waiting for my husband to come home to inspect if the bird survived.
About 20-minutes after that, I took a pan of brownies out of the oven, cut them and arranged them on a platter on the kitchen island to cool. I went the front door to greet the mailman (so that he would actually BRING the mail up to the house because Molly was barking at him thru the screen door like a rabid attack dog) and then I walked back into the kitchen.
And then there were three.
Three brownies left out of, say, twenty brownies that were on the platter.
As Rocco sat there, licking his lips with a guilty look on his face.
And because chocolate is toxic to dogs, I had to actually feed him for the second time this morning to dilute the chocolate brownies that now fill his stomach.
At least I know he will survive the chocolate, since he's eaten wallpaper, blankets, crazy glue, socks, tulips, grass, plants, assorted shoes, my Coach bag, aluminum foil, Frisbee's, toilet paper off the roll, the bottom of a wood dresser, Tupperware....
The list of the contributors to Rocco's culinary palate is endless.
I have to go.
I can't take my eyes of Rocco for one second today.

Doggie beach, 2009

Yesterday was a cloudy, warm Chicago Monday.
A perfect day for the doggie beach!
Here are Rocco and Molly with their daddy, before the Frisbee chaos began.


And the fun begins. (sarcasm).
Who will get the Frisbee?


Rocco...


Then Molly...


Then Rocco...


Then Molly...


Can you tell how competitive that they are?


And the best part of the day?
Rocco and Molly passed out by 7pm. :)

The snuggle dog

My 11-year old niece was here this afternoon, comfortably laying on the couch watching TV.
Well, she was comfortable until Rocco decided that he needed to snuggle with her.






And all was well until Molly decided that my niece needed kisses.
Look at how mad Rocco is that Molly got involved.


Yep, dogs have sibling rivalry too!

Bloopers

For those of you who think that taking pictures of Rocco and Molly is easy, please note the following pictures.
I would call them my gag reel, I guess. There are HUNDREDS of blooper pictures for every handfull of good pictures.

Here's Rocco jumping at the camera at the last minutes while Molly looks like she's sticking out her tongue...


Molly deciding that smelling the banner is better than posing for my picture...


Rocco, not running where I anticipate he will run...




Rocco. walking away as I was taking his picture....


I will post more of these pictures soon.
I guess now they are funny.
At the time, not so much.

Memorial Day Mascots

Today we honor those who served in the U.S. Military, and to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
My father and my father-in-law both served in the U.S. Army in WW II.
God Bless our soldiers who have served, are serving or will serve our country.