*Sigh.*

Those were simpler times … but it’s not that I’ve stopped blogging. Oh no, my friends. I’m pretty consistent over at Petside.com these days. All of my milestones are showing up over there, like …

Our new puppy Olive!

(She’s adorable and awesome and such a handful! Got a new puppy? Swing by the store and we can commiserate!)

So yes, I’ve become a horrible slacker here at the LOTL blog, but I swear I’m rocking it over at Petside!

October 10/29, 11:00 – 5:00

Stop by any time with your pooch to enter our costume contest, and enjoy “tricks for treats,” beer tasting for pups and people (dog beer for our four-legged friends, of course!), and everybody’s favorite game, Dog Treat Fear Factor! (If *you* eat an entire dog treat you’ll get 20% off your purchase!)

You can read more about him here.

Cool, right?

Our wonderful town, Doylestown, got a ton of nods in the issue. Bring your dog to D’town, check out LOTL, have lunch at one of the many dog-friendly restaurants and then shop in the various dog-friendly stores around town. It’s an awesome place to spend the day!

The first challenge was staging the shot. This one made Sum look like he had a strange Millie-shaped growth coming out of his head:

Sum wasn’t really feeling the shoot, so we had a few walk-offs:

I gave him tons of love to coax some posing:

Millie, on the other hand, was full of P&V. It was half wrestling match, half photo shoot:

We managed to get a decent shot … not professional caliber, but good enough. New photo and bio to follow soon at Petside.com. (Maybe I should mention the reason why they need them? I’m going to be blogging for them starting next month, which means this quiet little blog is going to see even less action. Sad!)

Maggie was a tad taken aback by Millie’s style at first …

… but she joined the dance eventually.

(Cute much?)

Daisy is a regular visitor …

When she stops by there’s always some Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling silliness …

But she’s equally interested in the floor model stuff, to Millie’s dismay. When Daisy opts of out of playing to have a gnaw, Millie does the look-at-me-I’m-fun-and-cute trick:

She rolls near Daisy in the hopes that her belly-baring tactic will encourage more play.

Today, the bone won.

When she comes to visit Millie turns on the “charm”:

Despite Roxy’s glum face in the photos, she rallies and gives Millie a taste of her own medicine:

“Payback’s a bitch, my friend.”

Meet Millie the 8-month old smooth Brussels Griffon, our new shop dog!

Tom and I had been considering a second dog for a while, but he was leaning toward big dudes like Rotties and American Bulldogs. As much as I love those breeds, a nutty old boxer plus a second big dog wasn’t going to work in our bitty store. Then Millie fell into our laps as if she was meant to be with us.

So what does Sum think? He is Over. It. She loves, loves, loves her big brother, and he tolerates her youthful shenanigans with heavy sighs.

Mille is fitting in well in the store …

She plays nicely with most dogs …

And tolerates me geeking out over having a small dog for the first time …

I’ll admit that having a puppy has been a reeducation for this dog trainer. I’m used to old man Sumner, who enjoys activities like sleeping, cuddling and then sleeping a little more. Millie? She likes to PLAY! And RUN AROUND! And GRAB THINGS! And sometimes, if I’m not careful, PEE ON THE COUCH! (Yes, even dog trainers make mistakes.) It’s been a little humbling, but a good refresher and empathy-builder for my new puppy clients.

I’ll do my best to avoid another two month lag between posts, but I’ll admit that most of the cute stuff is ending up on Facebook these days. Friend the store!

He opted to carry it out of the store, making sure to look both ways as he exited:

Then he decided that the sidewalk out front would be a great place to settle in for a gnaw:

Hey, when it’s time to chew, it’s time to chew.