Blog Updates...

I've uploaded photos to the "Our Condo" and "Our Dog" tabs above...  Morgan welcomes you to check 'em out!

Hopefully a problem solved...

Thanks for the tips on a recent post "It Happened Again..." featuring the damage my crocodile puppy did to my couch.

First we put foil on the sofa...  he immediately jumped up and walked all over it.  He wasn't scared one bit!

Then we decided to build a custom gate wall for our kitchen entrance.  Did I mention he chewed through the standard baby gate we had for the kitchen?  The kitchen is truly the best spot for him during hot summer days [he prefers the balcony which stays shady all day, but it's still warm].  The kitchen is a good size and has cool tile floors.

We called for backup [thanks dad!] and Mike and my dad built a wall.  Pressed fiberboard, 1x2 wood reinforcements, metal plated edging and screws!  They also built a custom latching system so the gate would stay in place.  $30 buckaroos later and here it is!

Our View from the Dining Area

Morgan's View from the Kitchen

The Metal Edges & Latching Loops

Happened Again...

M

I came home early from work yesterday because I was feeling sick.  To my horror, I found the arm of our sofa destroyed [for a second time] by Morgan.  I'm pretty upset, but I love my dog more than my sofa.  It can be fixed, but not anytime soon.

We've tried everything...  he's interested in everything other than his own toys and chewys.

Any suggestions?

Out with the new... In with the old?

Well friends, the obsession with Mid Century Modern has been passed along to my mom.  After reading our blog, my mom was on the hunt for Mid Century Modern pieces for our place.  She found an amazing chair for $50, but waited for my approval and it sold the next day!  Although we missed out on the chair, she found a fabulous end table for our living room...  did I mention it was $25!!!  I couldn't be happier with her find and it fits perfectly next to our sofa.  It is retro 1950's and looks fantastic!

And speaking of sofa...  I was going to devote an entire blog post to the new sofa but I've opted not to.  To make a long story short, we purchased the new Karlstad sectional sofa from IKEA a few months ago in chocolate brown because the color was more "Black, Scottish Terrier" friendly.

Four days after purchasing the sofa, Morgan chewed the arm off.  It was terrible and the tears were flowing.  He never touched our old sofa, so I'm assuming the new smell to this one attracted him to it.  Anyway, it's been fixed and we've moved on.  Morgan seems to have no hard feelings either.  :)

The Mini Condo...

We've been having a few problems, issues, lack of training, discipline errors, bad habits, unpleasant behavior, from our pooch.  One of them being the complete destruction of the arm on our new sofa [4 DAYS AFTER HAVING IT].  Morgan never touched our old sofa, but something about this new one has him in a fuss.  More on the sofa drama on a later post.

We decided that Morgan could not have access to our entire condo while we were away at work;  we could no longer trust him.  We now keep him in our kitchen with a gate and I come home on my lunch breaks to let him out or we keep him on the balcony which has been completely puppy proofed.  Morgan prefers to be outside barking at the birds, trees and whatever else may catch his attention.

My parents [Morgan's grandparents] graciously purchased him a new mini-condo for the balcony from Amazon.com.

Dog Day Afternoon [Part II]

Today was Morgan's big day!  Rancho Santa Margarita held the 4th Annual Dog Day Afternoon.  We were pretty darn surprised when we arrived at the park...  especially because there were about 400 people with their super cute doggies!

We entered Morgan into the Most Beautiful Dog contest and he got 2nd place!  He won an awesome gift basket full of toys and he will be in The Orange County Register online tomorrow :)  I was so excited!

Here are a few photos of Morgan and his furry neighbors...

The Top 4 Most Beautiful Dogs...

#1 Most Beautiful Dog...

#2 Most Beautiful Dog - MORGAN!!!

#1 Ugliest Dog...

Vendors...

Random Fluffball...

This dog had enough!...

Waiting for the contest to begin...

We found some shade [it was super warm!]

Today in Dana Point...

The weather was absolutely beautiful today at 75 degrees.  There was no way we were staying inside and apparently it's going to get warmer this coming week.  


We packed a lunch, packed the new camera and our pooch and went to Dana Point Harbor.  Little did we know it was the Festival of Whales at the Ocean Institute.  There were awesome vendors, live bands and tons of people...  we love people watching, so we were excited.  Enjoy the photos from our day...

Photos courtesy of Mr. Seybert [hence why he isn't IN any of them]

List of New Favorites...

Craigslist is awesome...  we just sold our sectional sofa, Mike sold an old calculator from high school and I was able to find a pet adoption agency in need of dog crates [they got Morgan's old ones] all via Craigslist.  I know of several people who stalk Craigslist and now I can see why...  it's awesome!


Canon Rebel T1i...  this is our new camera!  I'm not a gadget girl so I didn't understand why this camera was so much better than my Canon Powershot.  This camera is amazing.  The picture quality is unbelievable.  

Morgan's cameo on the new camera

Fish tank photo featuring El Camino [yes, our fish have names]

We also love Amazon.com.  Michael purchased the camera on Amazon while I've made much smaller purchases.  I recently ordered magazine subscriptions for SUPER cheap on Amazon...  LOVE it!

Dog Day Afternoon...

On March 20th, the city of Rancho Santa Margarita is having the Annual Dog Day Afternoon. This festival of all things dog will include local pet vendors, contests and food [the human and dog kind].

We plan on entering Morgan into 2 contests:

The Cutest Dog Contest [clearly an easy win]:

And the Master/Dog look a like contest with Mike [love the jet black hair]:

There's no denying this dog's shear beauty...lol. Morgan has his grooming appt. in 1 week to prepare for the day [yes, we're a little crazy over him]. :)

Let's be honest...

When we purchased our light cream sectional sofa we weren't really thinking about the reality of what a dog would do to it. HAH! The color of our sofa and Morgan's paws are not a good mix. We've kept it covered with sheets because as of 2 weeks ago, Morgan can finally jump up on his own [we we're dreading that day].

This past week I posted our couch [which is only 6 months old] on Craigslist. I'm hoping for a sale so we can move forward and purchase a new, much darker sofa.

Here's a reminder of our current sofa [which we love]:

Here's the potential new sofa [we need to test it out for comfort]:

and the reason we're doing this:

Dishwasher Dog...

What can I say? Your dog can sit, stay, shake and play dead... Mine can do the dishes! Morgan helped himself to house chores today while I was unloading the dishwasher. This is AKC Champion at its best! Enjoy...

Great Investment...

We purchased a new dog door from Home Depot. After much debate, this was a must. These doors aren't cheap and our sliding door happens to be a massive 96" tall so we had to special order the door.

At Lowes the door was $305. Home Depot had it for $255. Clearly, Home Depot was the winner. The reason I felt the investment was somewhat risky was because we really didn't know if our stubborn pooch would actually use it.

Thankfully, after a few training treats, Morgan found his new haven on our balcony.

Is that a Scottie?...

Morgan finally has all of his shots and we are able to take him on walks. We've become quite popular around the neighborhood. People stop us everyday and ask to pet him and if he is a Scottie. Our neighbors also call him a "Christmas" puppy. Apparently the red - plaid "Scottie" print is popular during the holiday season.

We like to think he's the coolest dog in town. One of the funniest things about our beloved pup is that he refuses to potty outside. Some people think that's strange, I just say he has class :)


Another funny thing about walking him at night is he is really hard to see! He is so black! He is also hard to photograph because you can hardly see his eyes.

Gated In...

A few weeks ago we installed a gate on our front porch. We wanted another barrier to keep Morgan in [he tends to bolt out].

My mom and dad went to Lowes and found this really cute gate that fit perfectly on our porch. I think we might actually be done dog-proofing our place.

We Will Laugh About This Some Day... Right?

When Michael and I purchased our condo, neither one of us had a place of our own, with our own furniture. Everything in our place had to be purchased... so yes, brand spanking, shiny and new.

Along with our new furniture, we decided to have a custom cabinet built for Michael's fish tank.

We were so excited to have our furniture and fish tank set up. We were literally sitting on camping chairs during our renovations.

Michael and I soon realized that a dog could care less about new furniture. If it looks good enough to chew, then he will chew [and no, BitterApple spray doesn't seem to work].

TV Stand Corner

Fish Tank Corner No. 1

Fish Tank Corner No. 2

The Morgan Diaries [Part I]

First I would like to thank our wonderful breeder at Culton's Scottish Terriers for taking such wonderful care of Morgan. She is awesome and he has been completely potty trained since we brought him home [priceless]. We cannot thank our breeder enough for being so informative for these past few months.

Morgan Simon Seybert [yes, he has a first, middle and last name] finally came home on October 31st. Needless to say he is a silly little puppy. We thought he would be really scared when he got home and very curious and quiet... Morgan has been MORE than comfortable from the moment we brought him home.

He instantly began running all over the condo sniffing everything in sight, jumping all over the place and playing with his toys. He isn't shy by any means. We noticed his favorite hobby is chewing... especially chewing us! We've begun to train him with an empty soda can filled with coins. Any time he bites, we shake the can... so far, so good. He's a fast learner. "Never bite the hand that feeds you" is what he is learning :) He's been doing quite well with his training and he is learning that biting hurts us.

We cannot believe how funny he is. He is seriously the cutest darn thing and he is extremely smart!

His first day home he decided to have a little fun with the toilet paper while we were at work...

Toilet Paper Clean Up #1

So when this adorable face looks at you after spreading toilet paper all over your house, how could you not just laugh and love him...

Morgan's Cute Face

Did I mention there was a day #2 toilet paper saga?...

Toilet Paper Clean Up #2

Here are a few more photos of our silly Morgan...