Thursday, February 9, 2017

Pictures from my Phone & Weekly Distractions

I went to the vet the other day so Mr. Duncan Doodle could get some shots (I still have no idea what they were) and the vet told me that the reason Mr. Doodle goes potty in my house (0 days without an accident--I have a chalkboard and everything) is because I give him too much freedom. And I was like, "oh I'm sorry. THAT I LOVE ANIMALS SO MUCH AND WANT THEM TO HAVE A HAPPY LIFE." And the vet was like, "Mr. Doodle will not have a happy life if he's trying to live in your house without rules."

Then he told me that Mr. Doodle needs to be either in my arms, in his kennel, or on a leash whenever he's in the house until he has gone FOUR WEEKS without an accident.

You guys. FOUR WEEKS. That is an amount of time that I'm actually afraid of. I feel like when Matt sent me the pathetic rescue picture of Mr. Doodle and guilted me into saving him he forgot to mention that for at least four weeks I wouldn't have any semblance of peace in my life.

But oh my gosh. Because take at look at these Pictures & Distractions:


"It's times like this that I think two dogs might be too many." Matt Broome.

Snowshoeing.

Mr. Doodle got a name tag so now he knows he's here to stay.


Mr. Doodle slowly testing the limits of Mr. Grumpy Pants's patience.


Mr. Pants has been exhausted ever since Mr. Duncan Doodle came into our lives.

Mr. Doodle helping me work.

Mr. Doodle about to pounce.

Mr. Doodle guilting me into working from home.





Crap to distract you from whatever you're supposed to be doing:

Meg's continued mockery of The Bachelor.

A hotel with great customer service. Thanks, Jodi.

A somber and beautiful story. Thanks, Bethany.

32 celebrity look-alikes. Thanks, Jon.

Interesting facts about Disneyland. Thanks, Jen.

The coldest town on Earth. Thanks, Derek.

Don't forget to follow Duncan on the Instas at mr_duncan_doodle. He even vlogs there. He puts a lot of time into that. And come join us on Facebook.

If you would like to have something included on Pictures & Distractions, please email me at itjusgetsstranger@gmail.com.

~It Just Gets Stranger

14 comments:

  1. We potty trained our dog without leashes and kennels. In addition to taking her outside as often as possible (and always after play, sleep or eating), we would also constantly watch her. Whenever it looked like she was about to pee, we would scoop her up and run her outside. You learn to recognize the signs pretty fast. We always put her in the same corner of our back yard, so that she could recognize the scent and know what to do. And we would always praise her a ton whenever she went potty outside (but never treats, she is such a glutton that I am sure she would want to go outside a ton more if she knew a treat would be guaranteed). Doodles are smart, and it did not take long for her to understand what we wanted her to do. We had her in a kennel at night, and she would whine whenever she wanted to go. She never had an accident there. Just remember that puppies are unable to hold it for more than a couple of hours, so be patient.

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    1. This. My family got out first dog five years ago when I was in grad school, and potty trained him without being strict. Raise your dog how you want to, Eli!

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  2. Oh my gosh he's too cute! His paw on Mr. Pants is priceless.

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  3. Wow. Those puppy pictures. Seeing Mr. Duncan Doodle's eyes is totally worth the inconvenience of four weeks.

    "Mr. Grumpy Pants" awwww

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  4. Eli, I hate to say this, but your parenting attitude is a total Millennial mind set. Don't give in to the stereotype! Seriously, though, your doctor is right. It seems counterintuitive, but one of the best ways to show your love as a parent is by setting boundaries and maintaining them consistently. It makes kids (and dogs, I assume) feel secure. You can do it!

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    1. What is this golden generation, and can I be part of it? I hate being lumped in with the children known as Millennials.

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  5. Those pictures of your dog are the absolute CUTEST things I have ever seen!! (Except for the pictures I have of my dog of course who is gigantic but still a puppy and still super cute, although maybe handsome is a better work for it now? Idk anyway Merete is completely correct, my puppy was potty trained basically within a week by us taking him outside every hour and taking him to the same spot and giving him a LOT of extra attention and praise when he went potty or poop outside, and if he did start going in the house you gotta get him outside as quickly as possible so he connects going inside to be a no-no and that when he's gotta go to go outside. It also helps if you always take him outside using the same door, cause after a while Jedi would go to the back door and hit the doorknob or the blinds with his nose to let us know he needed to go out! Good luck with potty training! It's a lot of work but totally worth it and I know you can do it!

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  6. You absolutely have to submit Mr. Doodle to The Daily Puppy! http://www.dailypuppy.com/ I have submitted both my dogs when they were puppies, and they were both selected! The key is to submit a variety of indoor/outdoor pictures - it seems you already have plenty to choose from! They also love snow pictures, if you can snag any of those. Then, we can all go on there and ooh and ahh over Mr. Doodle and show his cuteness to the world!

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  7. Good luck with the puppy potty training! It was a lot like having a new baby in the house when we got our dog. Fortunately, the "baby" stage for puppies where you're up taking them out to go potty in the middle of the night...that passes pretty quickly compared to being up in the middle of the night with a baby. Time flies and they just grow up so fast. :) Mr. Doodle is so cute!

    Also: Loved the "somber and beautiful story" Bethany submitted. Absolutely beautiful.

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  8. Ooh! I'm famous! I got a link on the list! (Must be a slow week, LOL.)

    We tried to kennel train our puppy but it was so pathetic. You know how they say dogs love to have a 'safe space' kennel and will go in there voluntarily? Yeah, well, my dog didn't get the memo. He shakes and looks like we're about to whip him when we put him in there. So once we got him potty trained (he was only in the kennel at night at that time because somebody was usually home all day), he didn't have to go in there anymore. He sleeps on my son's bed. He rarely has an accident and never during the night. So if you can just explain this to Mr. Doodle, I'm sure he will potty train all the faster. Potty training = freedom! (Also, take him outside right after he eats - there seems to be some kind of an internal trigger that often trips right after eating.)

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  9. Not that you have not gotten ANY potty training advice at all... When I potty trained my dog I sang her a song and it turned into she would pee on command- time to go potty, go potty Betty, time to go potty, go potty Betty. (pick a tune that you will not mind singing to him at 3am- or that you will not mind The Perfectseseses' overhearing). Best thing ever, really helped with training! Best of luck!

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    1. Yes! I've been chanting "potty potty potty" while he's going and he seems to have caught on. The last couple of days when I say "go potty" he stops playing and does his business. Fingers crossed!

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  10. Um...I'm sorry, but you're looking at this all wrong. The vet just gave you permission to have non-stop puppy snuggles for four straight weeks. I think I'd be okay with that.

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