Sundate: Stella & Roxanne

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this rare cuddle moment with Stella our 2 year old Boxer Lab mix and Roxanne, my parents 8 year old German Wirehair.  Roxanne normally isn't very engaging to Stella.  Having a love hate relationship I was surprised to see Roxanne letting Stella use her back as a pillow.  Perhaps in her old age she's finally warming up to Stella (wishful thinking)!  The fact is, it's extremely cold today and I think she was using Stella for body heat! 
Oh well, at least it made a cute photo.

Chance Encounter

So you would simply assume because a dog is a mixed breed , aka a "mutt," he or she may never encounter a dog as similar on an everyday walk.  Of course, you have the "popular" mixed breeds of the "maltipoo,"  "labradoodle," or "cockapoo," to which one may get lucky some day and perhaps see, but what about the not so famous, " boxador"?  You see, our 55lb bundle of joy, Stella, is just that, approximately half boxer and half lab, and to be quite frank, Jenn and I never imagined we would see another just as similar.  This was all until we met, "Shaky Jake", a 70lb male "boxador", as we were walking along the embarcadero in our favorite city by the bay, San Francisco.  Other then the day we picked up Stella at the shelter with her 4 fellow litter mates, we had never really confirmed seeing another boxer/lab mix.  Sure we had seen a few online when typing in "boxer lab mix" in the Google search engine, but to actually see one coming up on us as we were walking on this beautiful Saturday afternoon, was like encountering a long lost sibling that you knew you had to be related to.  The meeting was brief, but confirming, boxers and labs, when the right opportunity arises, can produce beautiful little puppies that grow up to be a perfect mix of playful energy, wit, and curiosity.  Take a look at our pictures below, of our first official "boxador" encounter, we hope you'll appreciate the significance...but don't be sad if you don't.

Stella and Shaky Jake meet for the first time, you can clearly see the similarities.

Both boxadors are ready to move on and could really care less about this chance encounter.

Stella still knows she's the only "boxador" who's walked across the Golden Gate.

Dogs Love Cupcakes Too

Below are some fun pictures I took of Stella and Roxanne enjoying their first Sprinkles pupcake! 

Name: Sprinkles
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Pupcake Price: $2.50
Cupcake Price: $3.25
Unique Flavor for humans: Chai Latte
Dog Bed: Title Track by Molly Mutt

Pupcakes from Sprinkles

Roxanne holding the pupcake bag

Stella sniffing her pupcake bag

Roxanne and Stella patiently waiting for me to stop taking pictures

Finally Marge gives them their pupcake

The girls enjoying their pupcake

 

The girls licking the crumbs off the floor

Dogs and Babies

Can you find the baby among all the plaid and hair?

If you found the baby and are wondering who it is; if the facial expression doesn't give it away, you probably know it's me.  My mom recently sent this to me after I was telling her how nervous I was about introducing  Stella to her new cousin Drew.  My mom suggested I keep Stella on a short leash and no matter what,  DO NOT  allow her to jump on Beth and the baby.

So glad to see my parents followed their own advise.  As the story goes, this picture was taken during my first meet and greet with my mom's beloved German Wire Hair, Saddle.  A kodak moment if I ever saw one.  I think this one in frame worthy...........

On Top Of The World

Nick and I live in small quarters. I keep reminding Nick that if we lived in Europe, this would be considered a mansion, as you haven’t seen small spaces until you’ve traveled abroad (or lived in New York). With mom and dad in town for the holiday weekend and Stefanie and Andrew staying with us from LA, it only made sense to make our apartment home base. With 6 adults and 2 dogs running around, our home felt like a stuffed clown car. At one point, my neighbors looked surprised at the endless number of people (and dogs) that kept coming out of our apartment. Nick and I definitely learned this weekend, as long as you’re with good company it doesn’t matter how nice or big your home is (although it would have been nice to have a larger table and enough chairs!) Oh well until the next dinner party……

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Saturday’s walk in Laguna and our family dinner party!

On Top of the World, Laguna Beach

Wild Flowers with Ocean

Stephanie with my favorite cupcakes from http://www.frostedcupcakery.com/

Q. How many people can you have around a small table with three and a half chairs?

 A.  6 people  &  2 dogs

Dad, Steph, Andrew and Roxanne (dog)

Nick watching basketball and breaking the "NO  Stella on the couch rule!"

Wine & Wrestling

My good friends Tiara and Nick came over with their 9 month old German Short Hair Roxy. It was a play date made in heaven! Stella and Roxy had 10 rounds of Wrestle Mania in the middle of our front room. Although I would never allow “roughhousing” in my house, when you live in an apartment sometimes the options aren’t always there. So against my better judgment we moved the coffee table and gathered around the front room and watch the dogs play while we chatted and drank wine! The “girls” got along great. By the end of the night, Stella was drenched with Roxy’s slobber. For anyone who has a puppy, it’s amazing to see how much energy they have. Play dates become your saving grace as it’s one of the few ways they can really burn off energy. As soon as Roxy left, Stella was out for the count. I think she slept for 10 hours and when I tried to wake her up this morning, she looked at me as if to say “momma you’ve gotta to be kidding me!”

Whatcha doing?

Taking a break with Nick

Whatcha eating?

Notice the hole in our carpet? Lesson number 368.

Don’t leave Stella home alone.

The girls