7/18/05 - We have come a long way with Sugar who we suspect is going to be 2 years old soon. Mugsy, who will be 8 in August, started out a perfect dog back in August 2004 and he still is. He has gotten a bit vocal when he wants a treat but learned that from our 12 year old boxer, Gabby. When he is told "that's enough" he quiets right down. When he is told "out of the kitchen" he leaves. He must have been told "out of the kitchen" often. He is just a great dog. He never has an accident and never causes trouble.
Speaking about trouble there is Sugar. She has come a long way since we first got her in September 04. We fostered her for awhile and then decided to keep her. She was way too attached to my husband to give her up. She used to attack Gabby and Mugsy but hasn't done that in a very long time. She hasn't had any accidents in the house in about 2 months. She still gets into things. She loves unrolling the toilet paper from it's holder, she loves to get into hand cream. She no longer gets sick in the car and is no longer fearful of the car at all. She realized that each time she got into the car she most likely would get some bacon as we go to breakfast on Saturdays and after breakfast bring them all some bacon.
I have always said that 3 is a lot of dogs to have but I wouldn't give any of them up.
Gabby had to have knee surgery the beginning of June on her torn ACL and is coming along fine. The first few days were awful trying to keep Gabby and Sugar from rough housing but Sugar got the message rather quickly. Gabby is healing nicely.

1/15/05 - Mugsy!! He is everyone's idea of the perfect dog. he is gentle, calm and always ready to either play with you or if you prefer he will snuggle. He is very low maintenance. His favorite spot is next to my husband on the couch. he is just now starting to give kisses. He is always ready to go for a car ride. He is a joy. He loves playing with our newest member of the family, Sugar, who is 1 year old. Mugsy and Sugar wrestle for an hour. Mugsy is a big boy and Sugar is petite but he is very gentle with her. Sometimes Sugar will bite him a bit too hard but Mugsy is very careful how rough he is with Sugar. Mugsy is still trying to get our 11 year old, Gabby, to play. She really rather not play with him but will from time to time play with Sugar. My husband and I are frequently entertained. Tomorrow we are going to try a trip to Sleeping Giant with all 3 boxers. Should be interesting.

12/18/04 - Mugsy has been with us for 4 months and is an absolute joy. He never has accidents and does this cute little dance when he either wants to eat or go out. He spins in a circle while barking. He gets along great with our 11 year old, boxer girl Gabby. She has started to play the boxing game with Mugsy. He is thrilled that she is finally playing with him. Of course, he plays quite a bit with our new adopted girl boxer, Sugar. He has been trying so hard to get Gabby to play and is so happy that she finally decided to accept him as part of the family. Mugsy loves the car and shares very well the back seat with Gabby. We can't take Sugar yet with us on errands or trips as she is still quite shy of the car. Mugsy went with us to a home visit and was just wonderful. He is the first boxer boy that i have had that doesn't mark his territory in anyone's house. He also comes up to you for hugs and kisses from time to time.

11/29/04 - Mugsy is our gentle giant. Since we took Sugar into our lives you would think that Mugsy feels that we got Sugar just for him. They play and play. Sometimes Mugsy doesn't want to play and he has a way of letting Sugar know it.
We took the herd (Mugsy, Sugar and Gabby) to Ocean City Maryland for a few days. Mugsy was able to be loose on the beach and he was the perfect, obedient boxer. He played fetch with the Kong as we threw it into the ocean. He was a bit afraid at first to get wet but once he took the chance he was having a great time. I can't say enough of Mugsy. He gets along well with cats (thanks Jean for checking that out for me). He does well with other dogs. A dog on the beach approached him and nipped him and he just shook it off. He is great around kids, adults and other animals. He is a joy. He loves the couch and when my husband gets off the couch Mugsy makes sure that he climbs right into the warm and cozy spot. Mugsy travels well in the car and is happy to just look out the window or sleep. Can't find anything he does that would be a bother.

11/7/04 - Mugsy just is a wonderful boy! We took him and Gabby to Sleeping Giant today for a hike in the woods. Since there were very few people there we let Mugsy off the leash and he was wonderful. He would go ahead for a bit and turn around and wait for hubby and me to catch up. If we saw in the distance that people were approaching we would call Mugsy and he would come right back to be leashed. This boy is just so obedient, fun and loving. He just loves to be with us and is happy playing with us or sitting with us. He has learned a new trick he barks for his dinner. If it is close to dinnertime he will start to bark furiously. We weren't certain why he was barking but then he went over to his food bucket and barked at it. We got the message. His favorite spot is right
on my husband's side of the couch. If he gets there first then dear old hubby sits on the floor, LOL. Mugsy has not figured out how to get up on our bed to sleep yet and likes it best in the family room where it's cooler. He is a very special boy and I am so glad we were allowed to adopt him.

10/23/04 - Mugsy is sweet and gentle and very patient. We are fostering Sugar who is about 8 months old. Sugar just loves to play with Mugsy and he is a good sport and will play with her for quite awhile. I have not found one complaint about this baby boy. He is always ready to play or walk or rest. Whatever we want he will be happy to comply. Gabby is his 11 year old housemate and he is great with her. Although Gabby is not all that interested in playing she will run with him in the yard and snuggle with him when they are at rest. He was a very welcome addition to our family. He is a love with our 2 grandchildren who are 4 and 2. Elizabeth who is 2 loves to hug Mugsy around his neck and he is happy to let her. He loves to be outside and you can find him sunning himself or just sniffing around. He seems quite happy with his living arrangements. He shares his goodness with whoever walks through our door.

9/30/04 - Mugsy is a joy. We are fostering an 8 month old female, Sugar, right now and you would think that Mugsy died and went to heaven. They play so well together, running, leaping and chasing each other. This is my first encounter with fostering but Mugsy is making it easy. When Sugar gets carried away with her puppy antics Mugsy is right there to discipline her. Gabby, my 11 year old boxer, and Mugsy, 7 year old boxer, had to teach her that she was not in charge. She now knows that she is 3rd in the pecking order. Mugsy is so low maintenance but is always ready to play, walk or cuddle. What a joy he is. Gabby even likes him and she really liked being the only dog.
My grandchildren came to visit for 4 days, they are 2 and 4, and Mugsy just loved them. He never got annoyed at them at all even with all the hugging that the 2 year old did to him. He adored my daughter and decided to sleep in her room while she visited. He is quite the social boy. He also can be a watch dog as a stranger came to the gate and he went wild with his barking. He is just wonderful in all ways.

9/12/04 - We took Gabby and Mugsy to Cape Cod this weekend. We always stay at a motel in East Falmouth called Green Harbor. This motel allows dogs and is very happy to have all of us. We took the dogs to the beach to play ball. Mugsy was loose and was so obedient. We threw the ball into the water and he was so happy to retrieve it. We also went to a dog show and he was just wonderful about staying at our side and not trying to sniff every dog in sight. We then went to the woods for a nice hike and Mugsy was once again off the leash and what a wonderful walking partner he was. Everytime we called him to come he did. He is just getting better and better. Labor Day weekend we introduced him to our daughters and 2 grandchildren (4 years old and 2 years old) Mugsy was quite the greeter. He is good with strangers, kids and other dogs. We took him to Mystic Connecticut and some people wanted to pet him as we strolled around and he was just great. We are so thankful that boxer angel rescue allowed us to adopt such a special boy.

8/22/04 - Mugsy is doing just great. We have had him a little over 2 weeks. He has learned that his sister rules the roost and is happy to submit to her. When Mugsy has a toy and Gabby steals it Mugsy is happy to get something else. This weekend my husband and I took a trip to Pittsburgh and Gabby and Mugsy spent the weekend with the dog sitter. The report from the dog sitter was glowing. She said that Mugsy is just a super dog. When we got home from our trip we were attacked with hugs and kisses from Gabby and Mugsy. We find that Mugsy is just such a loving guy. He shows no favoritism between my husband and I. We are so happy that we have him. He is happy, healthy and full of energy.
 

8/7/04 - We took both dogs for a nice walk this a.m., and Mugsy did great on his harness. He tried playing with Gabby this a.m. and they are trying to get to know each other. We took the dogs on our errands and they did just great. Mugsy is very adaptable. Right now he is outside lounging on our deck. He is so low maintenance he is ready to relax when you want to relax and ready to do stuff when you want to do stuff. This is a great dog.
He is fitting right into our lifestyle already!!!