I Love Publix!

Of all the crazy stories I could tell you, this is probably my favorite. I still to this day can't believe it happened.

Phoenix has always been an interesting dog. We call him Houdini sometimes, because he is so dang smart. He is a master escape artist.

Several years ago, we had put him in the backyard to play and do his thing. Our yard was completely enclosed with a tall privacy fence, and there was a large gate on the side.

I will not name names, but someone left the gate open and forgot about it. Ahem, it was not me! Haha. You couldn't see the gate from the back door, so when he was let out it went unnoticed.

I went out a few minutes later to check on him, and found the gate wide open, and a Husky free yard. We immediately set out through the neighborhood looking for him. I went one way, my husband went the other. Keep in mind, this happened in minutes. That dog is FAST.

We were only a few blocks away from Southside Blvd, which is a very busy road. Phoenix is a nomad darter and runs with abandon, paying no mind to anything that may be barreling in his general direction as he's bounding along. Obviously this combination scared me. I checked that way first, and no Phoenix. He'd escaped before, and usually heads the other way anyways, as neighbors that way had chickens. And lets face it, chickens are MUCH more interesting than the highway.

Apparently not that day though.

We looked, and looked, and looked some more. No Phoenix. I was devastated. I finally went back home to wait at the house in case someone showed up. Meanwhile my husband continued the search.

Not to long after I had gotten home, my husband called. "Someone just called my cell, they found Phoenix and he is okay. I'm going to get him."

Oh good! I am so glad! Where is he I asked?

"Publix."

Where?

"Publix!"

Did you just say Publix?

"Yes, Publix! He walked into Publix".

Are you sure?

"Uhh, yes."

Haha, that one took a moment to register. After getting to Publix and going to the back, my husband found Phoenix. He was laying on the floor, being showered with attention from Publix employees, eating it up.

Apparently he had just run straight through the sliding front doors and into the store. One of the bag boys had grabbed him and took him to the back. He found the number on his ID tag and called.

I still do not understand how he made it to Publix. He crossed Southside Blvd. Four lanes of extremely busy traffic. Then made it all the way down the road to Publix! Not only that, but actually walked into Publix! Crazy dog.

Only Phoenix.

Chewy the Husky

Phoenix's first week at home after his adoption was a lively one!

As stated in an earlier post of mine, Phoenix's name was Chewy when we adopted him. Naturally, one should question why a beautiful boy like him was named Chewy. I didn't though. I guess I was too mesmerized by those big brown eyes!

However, the evening I adopted him I found out exactly why he was named Chewy!

Richard and I had brought him to my house earlier in the day. He checked everything out, I gave him his purple tug toy (one that he would favor for a very long time after) and a blanket, and set up his food and water.

He seemed quite happy, but wouldn't touch his food at all. As a new Mommy I was quite concerned, but figured he would eat eventually. Later that night after I had gone to bed, I heard crunching. Thinking he was finally eating, I got up to go tell him what a good boy he was. Instead, I found him sitting on the family room floor with Richard's brand new sunglasses.

Oh, so that was the crunching! That was the first of many things Chewy chewed! Haha. Blankets, shoes, pizza boxes, sheets, books, a Coleman lunchbox (yes, the really hard kind…that dog has teeth of steel), carpet, chair legs, plants, clothes, a picture frame, the couch, and the list goes on and on! You name it he probably chewed on it.

Nothing curbed his chewing, and I tried everything! Thankfully, he eventually outgrew it and now focuses his chewing on dentastix, and his dog toys. We go through a lot of dog toys.

He didn't touch his food for a good week after I adopted him. I even carted him into the vet, and bought a bunch of ridiculously overpriced food the vet swore he would eat. Yep, he didn't touch it.

I guess Phoenix finally realized I was just as stubborn as he was, and gave in. We've battled it out a few more times over the years. Huskies are notoriously stubborn and strong willed.

He also pooped all over my office the first week. That was fun. Thankfully I had a large throw rug on the floor. It was ruined after the third or fourth time of being pooped on, but better that than my carpet!

Well speak of the devil. He must have known I was blogging about him!

A Day In The Life

My babies love looking out our sliding glass door. Now that we've moved they have quite a view! The backyard is open and overlooks a lake. There is always something out there that catches their attention.

Mockingbirds like to swoop down in the backyard, so the cats have quite a bit of entertainment. They get so excited!

We have had a lot of geese, but those are dissipating as I'm sure they are headed North for the Summer. I do see occasional heron's out. It's fun to watch them walk at the waters edge and grab fish.

The other day Phoenix and I were outside, and I heard quacking. Across the lake was a duck family with three tiny ducklings. They were adorable. Phi was very fascinated with them and we watched them waddle off until we got distracted by a big white heron grabbing fish.

I'm still waiting for an alligator to make it's appearance! I'm pretty certain they're out there. Just so long as they stay in the water, and out of my yard!

Bad Dad

Much to Mommy's dismay, Daddy shared half of his Oreo with Phoenix. He tried to hold onto it, but that didn't last for long. Phi was determined to get that cookie.

Look at that tongue!

Phoenix in Motion

The Scary Washer

Our washer and dryer were delivered yesterday, and I started in on my massive pile of laundry this afternoon. When they first came, Phoenix inspected them. He found them relatively boring.

However, this afternoon they were making noise! Not so boring anymore.

Here he is inspecting them again. He found them a little bit scary, but he mustered up the courage to go in and take a closer look.

"Click click, whir whir, swish swish." He found it fascinating. He kept pressing his nose up to the window. That is, until it made an extra loud click, and Phoenix shot straight up in the air. I wish I would have been able to get it on video.

Maybe on the next load. Heaven knows he'll be just as curious next time!

Sandwich Snitcher

Phoenix was a bad egg today.

I had left half of a sandwich on the couch. I know…this is always a bad idea when you have a Husky!! What was I thinking?

It was sitting so nicely on my plate. I walked off for a second to talk to Richard, and when I returned it was gone. There sat a very guilty faced Phoenix!

I hope he enjoyed it!