Tid Bits: That's my leg

Basil doesn't seem to like it when I have the laptop on my lap. He comes right over and steps on it and sniffs around. I know what he wants...he wants to lay on my lap and the laptop is taking up some of his valuable real estate. So now I move one leg out for him to lay on and type on my laptop side ways.



If that ain't love I don't know what is.

Tidbits: Basil the Protector

I think Basil is protective of me. When Keith leaves the two us alone in the house or car together, he seems very alert and is always looking around and doing his little growl at people going by. maybe he senses my apprehension or knows this is his domain. But I think he loves me :)

Quackers 1, Basil 0

Unsuspecting victim - Quackers Brown


Suspect #1 - Short, Brindle, and likes to snort


Oh, what is that? A stuffed duck. Haven't had duck in a while. Maybe I can reach it. ((snort snort))
Oh, no it's a dog! Stay away from my fuzzy feathers.


Gotcha! Nom nom nom
Aaaahhh, my poor beak.


I'm out. See ya suckers!
Help! He's kidnapping me!


Argh nom nom arghhh
aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!


Uh oh, I've been caught! Run for it!
Somebody save meeeeee!


Ah ha ha ha You can't catch me!


After a few short moments, Basil was caught with Quackers in the living room. Little did he know, mommy was right on his tail. Quackers was grateful that she saved his life.

DIY: Basil's Halloween Costume

We went to the store and Basil tried on several Halloween costumes for fun. We thought the dinosaur costume looked adorable on him. Even people at the store were commenting on how cute he was. I decided to sew him a costume of his own.


(At the store)


First I took some basic measurements. Basil Brown. "Perfect in every way" ~Mary Poppins


I jotted the measurements down. I thought about how I could construct the costume most easily and that would be comfortable for him.


I checked the length of the fabric on his body to get a better idea.


I started with the spikes because it was most fun. The spikes had to be prominent and not floppy like the one at the store.


3 spikes was perfect! Basil was sooo good and let me try it on him.


Then piece by piece I constructed the costume.


I added a tail, a rounded bottom and some spots.


I made a little "lip" or collar at the edge so it didn't look so flimsy. I added a little stitching to the top.

What are you doing to me, mommy?


Me testing the neck and belly bands around him before sewing on the velcro. He looks adorable!

Basil's John Hancock

Yup, it's raining again.

Voulez vous coucher avec moi?

After a long day. How precious is this?

Catch me if you can

Basil played catch with me outside for the first time. Usually he just gets distracted, but we had a good run today.

Lady and the Basil

L..is for the way you look at me
O..is for the only one I see



V..is very very extraordinary
E..is even more than anyone that you adore


And LOVE is all that I can give to you!
Love is just a game for two!
Love was made for me and you!

NEW! Basil's Shutterfly Share Site

Visit Basil's Shutterfly Share Site.



Like Basil's Flickr account, Shutterfly is another platform to share and print photos. Shutterfly is made for the every day user. The only reason I started the account is I get free prints whenever I create a share site and up date it by adding photos. Also, I can upload photos to Shutterfly via my iPhone.

Everywhere I see Frenchie

Now that we're in "dog mode", it seems every we look we see a Frenchie. It's like La Vie en Rose. I'm planning a baby shower and came across this image from Martha Stewart. I know she has french bulldogs. I saw one in one of her magazines. I did a search and found that her two french bulldogs also have a blog of their own.

Pumpkin Carving

Basil went to visit his girlfriend Bo again today. She has really warmed up to him and they were chasing each other. Then they shared a little pumpkin.




He started eating some of the pumpkin.


Later he helped me with yard work.

Down by the River

I love lazy Sundays. This morning, we took Basil for a stroll in the historic part of town. It was a beautiful morning.




You can really see this bully figure here.


Posing with Keith and the Liberty Belle (boat) behind them.


He really liked that warm sun on him.


Posing with me.

Day 4:

Basil rang the bell today all on his own! We were so excited that we were jumping up for joy!

We were both sitting on the sofa. After we fed him his dinner, we saw him walk over to the bell and nudge it. I let him out, he went potty, and he got his treat.

That was amazing!

We are Family!

That's us!

"Duval has found his forever home, and in addition to gaining a wonderful new life, he has a new name to boot. Duval will now be known as Basil Oliver Brown. It’s a big, distinguished name for this silly little man, but we think it’s just perfect! Basil’s new parents are so sweet and kind, and boy, were they happy to have their new baby! They had ribbons and signs heralding the arrival of their new family member, and they even sent out birth announcements to friends so they could share their joy. We think Basil just might be in store for the good life. Before Basil’s foster mom even left, neighbors were coming over to meet the new baby and congratulate his elated parents. Basil is one lucky little frog, and we’re excited that he will be such a cherished member of a wonderful, loving family." ~ FBRN.

Isn't that sweet? Become a forever family to one of theses loving frenchies. Or donate and support those who are caring for these sweet little frogs.

Day 3: Potty Bell continued

Basil rang the bell all on his own today! It was jingling away which means he was probably licking the bell. Keith took a peak at him. Basil gave Keith an "arf" (that's a first!) and with lots of praise, he let him outside. We were so proud! He went potty and then gave him a treat.

Later in the evening, he went up to the bell and sniffed it, nudging it back and forth a bit. We waited to see if it was with intention rather than jumping up and asking him to ring it. He stepped back and looked at us which usually means he wants to go. We asked him "outside?". Got him close to the bell to nudge it again to reinforce the idea as we cheered and praised him. Then immediately let him outside while saying "Outside, good boy, ringing the bell". This time he did #2 and got a special treat.

We're trying to reinforce the idea now and to get him to associate that bell = potty. To do that, we mention "bell" while he goes potty. Also, no dawdling. If he doesn't go within 10 minutes, he comes back inside. We think this bell is too heavy so we're going to get a new one. Also, we wait for him to send us a signal as oppose to asking him if he wants to go out.

Basil Meets Lily

Basil made a new friend today. Lily, the chihuahua. Lily is Bo's cousin (not by blood) and the daughter of Spartan who lives across the street. Basil and Spartan haven't met yet. She was the perfect companion. She was very active and got Basil running around, but as a chihuahua she had a big enough ego to take his chasing. She kept egging him on and he kept chasing her.



The beautiful coi pond. Here is Basil, Lily and Bo.


Bo finally began warming up to Basil. By the end of the play date, she began sniffing him and that's the closest she's ever gotten up to another new dog before.


Basil had a long day. This morning he ran around with Carmel.

Basil rang the bell!!!!

He just rang the bell!

We just went for a long car ride where he took a nap and I knew he would have to go when we came home. I asked, Do you want to go outside? He gestured towards the door. We walked up to the door. I said, Ring the bell. And he went up to it and nudged it with his nose! It was really light, but it was definitely with intention!

I am so proud. That was definitely worth the patience and time spent. We just need to keep at it now. As we keep going, he'll begin to associate it with potty.

NEW! Basil's Flickr Slideshow

Check out the sidebar to your left. Now, you can see all up to date photos of Basil.

I created a new account on Flickr using a Yahoo email address and linked it to Blogger.
To do this:

1. Using a yahoo email address or start a new account directly on Flickr.
2. Go into your Blogger Dashboard and add the Slide show widget.
3. Select Flickr.
4. Select User.
   
5. Under Username, enter your flickr "identification" which can be found in the browser address bar.
   
6. For example, http://www.flickr.com/photos/SNORTS@No18. "SNORTS@No18" is the user name. You should immediately be able to see a preview of your photos sliding by.
   

Outside of this, I don't really know a lot about how to manage the photos. Flickr is powerful and I lack the patience. If you have photos you want to be kept private, the slideshow doesn't reflect the change immediately, which is why I started a separate account for Basil's photos. However, on Flickr, there are 3rd party services which allow you to touch up photos and order all kinds of neat things.

Enjoy!

Tid Bits: City Lights

We took Basil out into Center City Philadelphia and he was very excited and interested. There's lots to see. He just seemed like he was trying to soak it all in and was very curious. He seemed especially attracted to the bright lights of the skyscrapers at night.

We've been fortunate to have a few days of warmer weather (65-72 degrees F...warm for us northerners) and we're trying to take advantage of that as much as we can. I'd like to take Basil to the dog park in Philadelphia and snap some photos of him near the Art Museum.

Like Father Like Son

Basil loves the car. He's so well behaved. He stays in the back and never jumps up front. Most of the time he just falls asleep immediately.


The back seats are a little awkward for him, so we got him a "car seat" to lay down in. He loves it. He got right into it and went to sleep. Here he is in my car. Tan interior, tan bed.


Typically, we take this red flannel blanket with us which he seems to have grown to love. Look at how sweet he is. Since we usually use this car, we're going to look into the car seats made for dogs which you latch a harness to.


He still won't go into the car himself. I have to pick him up and put him in. I tried enticing him with a biscuit. He seemed interested...


I tried to tell him to go into the floor first and then onto the seat, but that wasn't getting through to him. I sat on the other side to encourage him.


Looks like my treat wasn't enticing enough. Look at that face! Next time, we're going to use a more enticing treat and sit on the other side to get him in.

Potty Bell continued...

Today, Basil nudged the bell with his nose!!! We've been consistently taking his paw and tapping the bell when he goes out. He was sniffing around and nudged it today! He still doesn't grasp the idea of course since it's only been a day.


He seems to be startled by the sound too, so I smeared some cream cheese onto the bell. He began licking and ringing, licking and ringing and I gave him lots of praise for it. I think he's finally not afraid of it now.

After that, throughout the day when he wanted to go out, I would get a treat and get him close to the bell until he nudged it.