Visions of cheese plates danced in his head

When I was in Tokyo visiting Tyler for Christmas my mom was in charge of watching Turtle. I got an interesting update email about midway through our trip. Here's what the email said (Note: My mom also decided she wants to be called Turtle's "old mom" instead of "grandma"):

"We had the buffet table all set up in the dining room careful to have the ham and tenderloin out of reach of busy puggles but when our guests were ready to eat we discovered Turd had helped himself to the platter of sliced cheese which wasn't put back as far. He apparently loves Swiss and provolone and large quantities don't make him sick." -- Old mom

Insured!

Thanks to everyone for the pet insurance advice. I spent some time reading reviews on www.petinsurancereview.com and then I stopped by Turtle's vet in Ann Arbor to get their advice. They suggested Embrace, which is the company I thought looked best after reading reviews and the plan coverage on the Embrace website (http://www.embracepetinsurance.com/). I purchased the "Everyday" plan, which costs $26 a month and covers accidents and illnesses up to $10,000 per year ($200 deductible).

Hopefully, we won't have occasion to use it, but I'll let everyone know how it goes if we do.

Here's a funny clip my economics professor played in class to illustrate the concept of moral hazard. Hope T doesn't get too reckless now that he's insured :)

Pet insurance advice

Hi friends-

Wondering if any of you purchase insurance for your pups? We've been reading more about it lately and trying to figure out if it's a good idea for Turtle. Knowing how adventurous he is (and most Puggles are), it's likely he'll get himself into a pickle one of these days.

Any providers you like, articles you've read or general advice would be much appreciated!

Best-
Maris, Tyler & Turtle

New dog park

This past weekend Turtle took me his new fancy schmancy dog park near his grandma's house.

Here we are setting out on the path. You can see all the other dogs walking nicely on the path while Turtle is off on the side eating twigs.



Here is Turtle being chased by his new friend, Sammy (poor Sammy gave up after a couple minutes--no one can catch T).



Puggle camouflage! Can you spot the curly tail?



All in a days work. Next up: bath time.

Patiently waiting

One of my favorite routines is making breakfast and dinner for Turtle. Ever since he was little, Tyler and I taught him to sit patiently while we prepared his food. It makes me smile mid-prep to look down and see my anxious diner watching my every move. Sometimes he'll even whine a little if he's really hungry and I'm taking too long.

But he never moves an inch!

The princess and the bee

Happy Halloween! Turtle's grandma bought Turtle his very first Halloween costume this year (T's dad doesn't let him wear clothes). She got him bumble bee costume because she thinks he's such a "busy bee" whenever he visits her house.

In true form, we had a hard time getting him to sit still in his costume to take a picture with princess Emma.


Emma: "What are we waiting for?"
Turtle: "Grandma, leave my ears alone!"



Now they're ready for trick or treating!

Fall delights

Tyler came to visit this weekend, so Turtle wanted to show him all his favorite things about the fall in Michigan.

First up, was a walk around Bandemer Park to see all the fall colors.



And Turtle took a few time outs to chase squirrels, but they always got away at the last second.



On Tyler's last day, we went to the apple cider mill. Luckily, Turtle was tall enough to pick apples.



Here are all the apples Turtle thinks he picked ;)