Editor’s note: The Get Ready with Me (GRWM) series features the morning routines of people from different walks of life, from their first grabs to the way they get ready for work, and to the items they can’t live without. In this installment, let’s get ready with a doggo who has been an endless source of joy for his pawrents.

Pets are always a blessing to their owners. For the rest of us who don’t have any, we still get second-hand pleasure from watching these adorable companions cling and torment their hoomans in the most loving ways possible.

It also helps if that said pet is as naughty and irresistible as Logan the Welsh, whose antics have earned him lots of followers on Instagram.

So, how did he become an internet doggo? One of his hoomans, Ruth, shared: “We honestly just started the account so we don’t flood our personal accounts with dog photos and videos, but we’re glad we did it because we receive lots of messages saying things like Logan can cheer them up when they’re down!”

Ruth, owner of Fluffy Butt and Happy Rascal, and Mong, a principal architect at RVR Design & Architecture, are Logan’s pawrents. A year into their condo lifestyle, they felt that their living space was “lacking in warmth without a furbaby,” hence, the adoption of the then-9-month-old Welsh corgi.

The partners did their research and braced themselves for the responsibilities of taking another being in. “Corgis are herding dogs so they have more energy, and they’re smart so they’re highly trainable, but need mental stimulation too,” said Ruth, which meant that they had to keep up with Logan immensely. Additionally, more than their humble space, she mentioned that “the biggest practical consideration we had was cleanliness from fur (not even realizing how much corgis shed)!” Their vacuum cleaners certainly came in handy.

Still, Logan is a relatively neat dog. Ruth proudly mentioned that their home smells clean, and went so far as to say that “you wouldn’t think we have a dog,” because their regular morning and evening walks trained him not to pee or poop inside. (They clean up after him, don’t worry!) The only giveaway signs of pet life were the “nibbled area rug corners and baseboards” – glaring ones at that – but these only made their days more colorful.

Ruth also emphasized the need for condo residents like her to closely look after their pet dogs during the puppy stage “because it’s easier to disturb your neighbors from constant barking, for instance.”

“When Logan had a phase of barking while we were out (he was maybe 10-11 months old) we had to leave a GoPro filming to figure out the triggers (it’s stressful to deal with complaints too!). We realized it was from people walking along the hallway or from loud thuds from upstairs, so we started leaving music (on timer to turn off after 4 hrs when most people are out of their homes already!) so he wouldn’t hear those triggers as much.”

“Having a shared responsibility as partners” brought her and Mong closer together, in addition to getting a furry stress buster at home. Logan even paved the way for them to meet more friends and acquaintances. In return, he tagged along with their frequent trips to Aurora, especially before the pandemic, where he took a liking to the place himself.

Trips going there were expectedly fewer, but staying indoors more seemed to have been enjoyable for Logan. “We used to be gone from 7:30 am to 7 pm on average, but now, he doesn’t find himself alone on most days!”

What does a day in the life of a quarantined furbaby look like? Ruth walked us through:

WAKING UP. Stretches. He definitely stretches first; no fail. Haha! Then asks for belly rubs before getting up!

Then it’s his daddyo’s (Mong) turn to walk him. Mommyo is assigned to evening shifts!

TREATS AND MEALS. Even while Logan was in his original home, he was already on a raw diet, so it was quite natural for us to adopt the same. He had kibble for a short while upon adoption, then transitioned to home-cooked meals, until he went back to raw food (we source ours from barf.ph because we’re not confident about our own methods at home in handling raw meals!).

Since he got diagnosed with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis back in Jan 2019 (corgis seem to be prone to digestive issues based on other corgo furiends’ experiences!), we started giving him something light before his first main meal – usually either a chicken or duck foot from Bonapetreat or Treatos by Joey. We also started adding yogurt to each meal.

So far, so good! Hardly any episodes since. 😊 Besides unsweetened yogurt, his meals are simple – for raw meat, we switch around duck, rabbit, pork, beef, and organic VCO from Fluffy Butt.

GROOMING ESSENTIALS. Honestly, we hardly give him baths at home. His grooming session at The Dog Park every 4-6 weeks usually serves as his bath time, but we swear that he never gets stinky!

We’re actually quite minimalists with his routine – I started Fluffy Butt precisely to create our own natural pet care essentials that Logan uses on a daily-weekly basis:

Pre-walk:

• Shoo Flea natural tick repellent (I use it as my own mosquito repellent for our daily walks!)
• We switch to the Tick-minator natural tick killer on Sundays just for good measure.

Post-walk:

• We clean his paws (and when it’s raining, his underside/fur) using Gross Buster paw & fur cleaner when we get back.

When his paws get too dry/rough (usually when it’s been hot outside), we also apply Balm Squad paw moisturizer on his paw pads.

That’s pretty much his routine for almost 5 years now!

GOING OUT & TRAVELING. We’re lucky that Logan doesn’t get car sick even during long car rides. So his travel essentials are quite straightforward. We have a bag containing the following:

• Scratch paper for catching poop
• Soapy water to wash off pee (we use natural dishwashing liquid from Human Nature to make sure it’s safe for the grass/plants)
• Gross Buster paw & fur cleaner transferred to a small spray bottle to clean his butt after #2
• A roll of tissue (we avoid even wet wipes because while a lot of brands are biodegradable now, they’re still individually packed in plastic)
• Car hammock to contain the fur:

• Treatos
• Shoo Flea natural tick repellent (we spray on him generously EACH TIME he steps out of the house!)

For long car rides during the day, we try to tire him out before the trip so he’s asleep during the drive!

COMING BACK HOME. For Logan, we always clean at least his paws with Gross Buster paw & fur cleaner upon getting home. For us humans, we don’t touch anything first and wash our hands well, then “shed” all outerwear!

But except for important errands, we still try to stay at home as much as we can. We haven’t seen most of our friends since the start of ECQ in 2020!

BOREDOM BUSTERS. This has been challenging because he cannot play fetch as much due to his joint issues (common among corgis) so his best form of exercise is actually swimming. But we have some Nina Ottosson puzzles for some mental exercise, which we purchased from Petster.ph. (50% of their profits go to animal welfare efforts!)

And of course, his favorite is definitely our made-up game, “Where’s Daddyo?!” We’re still amazed that he can understand the concept and knows exactly the goal of the game! Here’s one of our fave videos:

We also keep some frozen lick mats for him for longer distraction. (e.g. when there’s thunder!)

FAVE DELIVERS. As a rule, if we can purchase from Petster.ph, we will because it’s our way of contributing to their cause. But here are our staples:

• Treatos: Since we watch Logan’s weight quite closely, we try to stick to dehydrated protein treats, and thankfully, there are so many quality local brands for this! Like Little Lion, Bonapetreat, Pawfect Plate, Treatos by Joey, etc! And when we want biscuits, we still stick to homemade natural baked biscuits like Hachi and Yuki Pet Kitchen and Belly Grubs!
• Hygiene: Unli supply of Fluffy Butt, of course! 😊

TRIPS TO THE VET. For routine shots, we go to BSF in BGC. But for other issues, we trust Doc Racky of Mt. Sinai the most. For both clinics, we love them because we know they can about Logan’s (and any dog’s) welfare first! They’re not the type to have unnecessary tests done just for $$$.

QUARANTINE LIFE. The most felt change for Logan is fewer trips, definitely. Since that’s where he gets to exercise the most (just by having more space to walk around in), we just have to be more religious with his walks around our condo compound.

We have also purchased him a pool that’s deep enough for him to swim in, so we try to set that up at least once a month for his water therapy.

Besides the lack of physical activity, he also lacks social interaction with other doggos besides those we meet during walks. So we’d sometimes still leave him at dog parks for socialization — PetMe BGC Paw Park & Hotel for quick playtime at their indoor dog park, and Dog Coach Francis when we want more extended socialization for a few nights!

Logan’s picks

• All-natural chicken jerky pet treat (P195)
• Air-dried duck feet treat (P150)
• Coco Loco organic VCO (P250 for 250ml; P800 for 1L)
• Shoo Flea natural tick repellent (P230)
• Tick-minator natural tick killer (P330)
• Gross Buster paw & fur cleaner (P1,600 for 1L)
• Balm Squad paw moisturizer (P350)
• Natural dishwashing liquid (P120-P200 depending on the size)
• Nina Ottosson level 1 dog puzzle (P858)

Got someone you want to feature? Just email us at stories@rappler.com with the subject line “GRWM” followed by the name and the designation of the person, or furbaby! – Rappler.com

*Responses edited for brevity