An oil painting of Skelly and Insano

Never in a million years could I ever get these two animals to pose like this. So, I had to rely on the magic of Brushstrokes by Susan to bring them together!

This painting is a very early Christmas gift from Skeletor and Insano to Mel. :)
It's Skeletor and Insano hanging out in the backyard of our old house.

Here's Skeletor's Christmas card for Mel (created by yours, truly)

I'm working with Susan to help her sell pet portraits through her website. There's very little time left to immortalize your furry friend in your choice of medium. Oils, acrylics, watercolors, Susan does it all!

While I'm working on the website, feel free to email Susan directly at art@brushstrokesbysusan.com.

A very Skeletor Thanksgiving

I've had more to be thankful for since this wacky pup came into my life. See for yourself!

10. Puppy dog eyes - They help him get his way, while simultaneously warming my heart.

9. Afternoon naps - I have never been much of a napper. However on the rare occasion that I can take one, I really love it! Note: I've been able to take a nap each day for the past 3 days. I think I'm getting old. Old guys rule!

8. Old hats - I never knew what to do with my old hats, until I realized just how much joy they brought to this silly pooch. 

7. Back seat drivers - Though it means my windows are constantly covered in slobber, every time I load this dog into the car, adventure is sure to follow. 

6. Fewer vet visits - Some of those visits were certainly doozies! These days, I'm so happy to report that Skelly is down to just one pill, twice a day. It's great to see him so happy and healthy! Keep it up, bud!

5. Rawhide - I don't like the taste personally, but I certainly get a kick out of watching Skeletor go nuts over it!

4. Dog training - I will admit that I haven't been working with Skelly as much as I should, but he has definitely improved his behavior since attending school. 

3. Pink bandanas - I love the looks I get walking my big manly pit bull around the block while he flaunts his flamboyantly pink bandana! 

2. Skylights - They let in the moonlight so you don't kick the coffee table on the way to the kitchen, and they make for some warm afternoon naps for the pooch. 

1. And the number one thing I'm thankful for this year is everyone! My family, my girlfriend, my newborn niece, my dog, my former cat, my friends, my blog readers, my friends' parents, my friends' children, my clients, and my vendors. You guys and gals simply rock!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Skeletor says goodbye to an old friend (his rope toy, that is!)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a video worth?

Anyways, take a look at this video, and I'll type some words as well.



The other day, Skeletor was full of youthful vigor and/or angst. He destroyed one of his oldest toys, which was donated by one of his wonderful blog reader friends (Let me know if you recognize it in its current state) and once a very tough green and white rope tied in a knot at both ends. Before that, Mel caught him trying to eat my webcam. I was very lucky because she caught him before he did any damage. *phew!*

I have seen this dog destroy things before, but he's never really been a bad chewer. He did eat part of my brother's leather jacket (sorry, Ian!) He ate a friend's cell phone (sorry, Shawn!) and He has certainly eaten his share of delicious leather belts.

I have known young male dogs in the past, and they were a hundred times more destructive than Skelly has ever been.

Knowing Skeletor, it's probably his way of trying to tell us something. I think I know what that something is. "Hey buddy, I don't have anything yummy to chew on!"

I think I'm going to add rawhide to Skeletor's Christmas list.

Skeletor was not being bad, he was just misunderstood!

I should have known that there was something behind Skelly's recent drastic behavior change. His appetite for couch lounging had increased tenfold. He was so determined to get on the couch, that he bypassed our dog repellants.

I began to wonder if it had something to do with his bed being too old and flattened out. It was indeed starting to look like a giant rectangular pancake!

Mel and I went to walmart to scope out the dog bed scene. His old bed was of very high quality, but the stuffing just wasn't what it used to be. Underneath the bed was nothing but hardwood flooring.

They had some good deals on new beds.. a rather nice one for about $30. However, we decided upon a big bag of pillow stuffing.

I returned home, unzipped the 2 layers of his old dog bed. Tossed the old stuffing, and washed the rest of the bed. An hour or so later, it was all dry. I simply dumped the bag of fluff into the old bed, zipped it up and gave it a good fluffing.

Just $9 later, he's got a bed that for all intents and purposes is BRAND NEW!!!

Lo, and behold.. his attitude has completely changed! He barely bothers getting on the couch anymore. He really seems much happier all around (and lazier I might add :)

Goes to show... often times dogs may seem like they are acting out, but they're just trying to tell you something.

Whatagoodboy!

Suddenly those tasty acorns have taken on a sinister persona

A while back, our pal Skeletor had a very, very upset stomach.
We were quite worried when he puked for um... 12 hours straight.

Though we never found out exactly what the little guy had gotten into, we had certainly considered that it could have been from ingesting acorns.

We have a plethora of acorns outside our house. Skelly has been know to snack on them when nobody's looking. I read that acorns are no good for doggies.

About a month ago, we started noticing some noise coming from the back porch area. Melanie pointed out that it was getting worse. At first, I thought it was squirrels running around on the roof. But then I thought to myself... how do squirrels get worse? 

Then it dawned on me... those acorns! The giant trees were dropping them like they were bad habits. The colder it gets, the more frequently they hurl them suckers downward. 

Sadly we have not done much handing out on the back porch, and it's the perfect weather to do so! Melanie's been really busy going to school online to get her master's degree. I've been working my face off trying to rule the world. 

Today, I decided to take a break and get some fresh air. I let my pal, Skeletor tag along. We were only out there for a few seconds when an acorn smashed into the roof. This really scared the crap out of poor Skeletor. It scared him so bad, he lost his footing on the tile floor. After that he was not too interested in the fresh air, so I let him back inside. 

Hours later, I decided to snap a few photos of him in his nifty pink bandana. (I bought the pink bandana for "Race for the Cure" which Mel and I participated in last week.)

Wouldn't you know it, this vicious pit bull is still shaken up from the acorn incident! Oh, the poor little guy! Here's a video