Today is National Puppy Day! It's all about celebrating puppies and encouraging adoption.

While my dogs are no longer puppies, they often act like they are still puppies. Nothing beats Teemo's face when he is sticking it out a car window, or Raynor when she is bounding around with a new toy. I've had over 5 years with Raynor and over 4 now with Teemo, and there isn't a moment that goes by that I am so happy I adopted them. They are both mutts - Teemo is not a full corgi, nor are we even sure that Raynor is a 'bagle hound'. But they both have wonderful personalities.

 I wanted to show some 'throwbacks' to the puppy days (or as close as I ever saw Raynor and Teemo to being puppies - I got them at about 5 months and 10 months). One of the big things that has changed with Raynor is her health. Moving away from Ohio (where she was allergic to the type of grass and birch trees) combined with finding a food that benefits her coat and is manufactured well, Raynor looks better than ever and has had barely any vet appointments outside of her checkups. You can see, she's got a beautiful coat now!

Petcurean's Now Fresh line is manufactured well, plus it contains actual meat and veggies, so the dogs have done amazingly well on it. It's not overly fatty or unbalanced either - both pets have easily maintained their weights. You can read more about Raynor and Teemo's switch to Now Fresh here.

 Lately, they have been some sleepy southern dogs though. Here are the more recent 'my dogs love the couch' collection I seem to have been photographing.

I've got a lot of thanks to give here - especially when it comes to my puppies. See, I wasn't really every supposed to get Raynor or Teemo when I did.

Jason and I had just moved out of our second, tiny apartment into a home with a yard. Both my mom and Jason explicitly told me 'don't move to get a dog.' I moved to get a dog (also we really needed more room) but a few short months later, we found ourselves with a crazed basset mix from rural Kentucky ruling our lives. For my family giving into me too easily, I give thanks.

Next was Teemo, the 'foster' dog. Jason and I had began fostering that year and had a few dogs in the home before I found a corgi mix on Petfinder while we were drinking at Cheeseburger in Paradise. While Jason was feeling happy from the sugary alcohol concoctions, I showed him a few photos of this corgi with the big ears, and he agreed to let me meet him. The exception? I had to bring the crazy queen basset, who usually scared off little dogs and is a total alpha. I was fortunate that the tiny corgi (Teemo's gained like 15 pounds since I got him) was just as crazy as Raynor, and totally submissive. My parents, actually no one, thought we should be getting a second dog, so he became our 'foster'. For finding the perfect pair to my queen, I give thanks.

I also love that my dogs, despite their shortcomings, get along well with others. I love seeing them on walks with my mother-in-law's 6 pound maltese, Lucy. For their ability not to trample the little one, I give thanks.

I also give thanks that these two are in good health - they eat a nice food, drink lots of water, and eat very few treats. I give thanks to Petcurean for coming up with a new recipe for their adult food that didn't make them sick (a lot of times just switching flavors can mess up your dog, by the way) and that these pups gobbled up like no tomorrow. The new fish recipe with trout and salmon is great for them - although the smell, I've got to admit, smells like trout and salmon, so while not great, you know it's really in there!

One of our favorite daily activities is the dog walks. We don't own a backyard, nor do we really need to in order to exercise these two, because it's lovely weather and we have a lot of paths and areas to walk. We live across from a pretty large city park called Quiet Waters, which is free to enter on weekdays and cheap entry on weekdays, and we love to go and walk around the lake which has people on this water skiing track called Ski Rixen. There is nothing I love more than photos of my dogs pooped from good, long walks at a park. Teemo also played with his first coconut!

This blog was originally named 'Of Corgis and Cocktails' because it was just me, my corgi mix Teemo, and a lot of alcohol I brought from Ohio who moved to Pennsylvania alone. My husband and basset mix were chilling down in Orlando, Florida, while Teemo and I were stuck in central Pennsylvania roughing it. We moved back in together awhile ago (and back apart again only a few months ago) but we're all back together now. Our pups are troopers - moving across the country multiple times, traveling a lot, and what not - and we love them dearly. Here's a few highlights of their lives over the past few years.

We taught Teemo to bubble hunt, which is downright awesome.

We moved the family to south Florida, me and the pups going down alone in February and Jason joining us in June.

They've devoured over 300 pounds of Petcurean Now Fresh! dog food, and they look amazing!

They also ate lots and lots of puppy snacks.

There were lots of puppy cuddles

They got dressed up in all sorts of embarrassing outfits.

They moved into their first home with lots of stairs in Lancaster, PA

There were lots of silly tricks

And some seriously ridiculous holiday photos.

The weather here in the summer is different than any other summer I have had in my life - and geez, I have never, ever seen so much lightning! Which is why this little lightning necklace from crave jewelry is the perfect accessory for a South Floridian (or really anyone in southern/tropical/lightning heavy weather). Walking the dogs has become a challenge - as has taking photos at the exact right time. While taking these photos we were watching the storm clouds roll in, scared of not getting back in time from our dog walk/photo shoot (two birds, one stone) trip.



Love this necklace? Well watch for it in a giveaway post next week! WOO!

dress :: sugarhill boutique (via sammi!) // belt :: agaci // sandals :: sam & libby for target

necklace :: c/o crave jewelry // sunnies :: ray ban

raynor's collar :: buckle down // teemo's collar :: the mod dog

As I talked about in yesterday's post, it's been all about me and Raynor lately. I usually feel her against my side at night or pushed up against me as I work on my blog in the evening. She really loves Florida, and I do too. You can see it in how happy she is to be by the lake - or rather, how completely distracted she is in all these photos. I loved the nautical look of her new Wolfgang leash and collar, so I decided to play off that and do a nautical look myself. All we need is a boat!

hat :: brixton // sunnies :: fetch // necklace :: pretty pany

dress :: keds // belt :: target // shoes :: bass

raynor's collar and lead :: c/o wolfgang 

Raynor and I have been bonding since moving to Florida - it's a place the two of us both enjoy. She's become my sidekick more and more here - following me around the house, being right by my side at walks, and cuddling me at night. Raynor has been around longer than Teemo, despite my blog name, and was my first dog, ever. She's helped me through college, many moves, and more. When we were apart, she carried a sweatshirt of mine around with her. Anyhow, this story is exactly why I loved the Wolfgang story. A bunch of product designers (like I once was, once upon a time) loved their dogs and product design and decided to mix the two and start this company. I'm in love. This leash and collar set is so very product designer-y - clean lines, a cute, custom tag, and of course, a very linear, well thought out pattern. Red is Raynor's color too, don't you think?

I'm in love with my collar and leash sets - this one is great, but as it is a buckle collar, it's definitely more decorative for Raynor. I'm into decorative collars though - and breakaway collars like this are great for when she goes to the kennel. The leash is my favorite part though - the material is smoother than other nylons and easier for me to wrap around my hand.

leash & collar c/o wolfgang usa

I am always amazed at the vast differences in the personalities of my dogs. I am always amazed at my animals - how well they adjust to new environments, the ever change of people in and out of their homes, and even just the little things, like a new collar or the recent usage of rain jackets once again.

Despite where we go, Raynor always keeps a pretty accurate schedule of retiring to bed at 9PM. I come up to bed every night to a dog in the center of the bed, usually, somehow, under the covers. This has been happening for years.

Teemo has also really been takin' it easy as of lately. With the longer walks due to warmer weather, he spends most of his time flopped out on the carpet or tile where it's cooler.