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Monthly Archives: January 2012

1.5.12 24:44: Ham!

05 Jan

Long day and I did not get to spend much of it with the dogs except for their mile walk.  Work, work, work and still working.  Sofie did not like going ‘night, night’ because she did not have enough ‘Mommy time’ today, so she whined and whined in her kennel, so I let them out and they are still here in the office with me (sleeping of course) while I am typing away.  Ah, the life of a dog.  When I die, I want to come back as one of my pets, they sure have a nice life (once they get to me).

Sofie & her beaver sleeping

Bookends

But what I really needed to say today was one word —-  HAM!

Now I am not a meat eater but several of the family had a ‘Honey Baked Ham’ at Christmas and there was some leftover, so I kept it to give the dogs.  Well, Louise has basically lost her mind over it.  She gets so excited when I take the bag out of the refrigerator that she can hardly contain herself. I guess the bland boiled chicken that I make for training treats will never be the same.  The ham smells really good, so maybe I have found the incentive treat to get Sofie to come more often.  I am always looking for that one thing that will make Sofie listen.  Louise on the other hand is so good, I just want to give her treats just because.  Oh well, just another DogDaz evening at our house. ❤

Lulu will do anything for HAM!

 
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Posted by on January 5, 2012 in Dogs

 

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Black on Black

05 Jan
 
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1.4.12 20:37: Lulu’s Chair

04 Jan

So Louise just came rushing into the office, nosed my leg, and ran away.  She had been sleeping in the den on the couch with my daughter most of the evening.  There are only a few places that she is allowed on furniture:  the den couch, ‘her’ chair in my office (though she likes to be in mine), my daughter’s bed, or she can be on the ottoman next to my bed (which I put there for her so she could be off the ground, nearer to me, but not actually on the bed).  I used to allow my dogs to sleep on the bed but when I remarried those rules changed (I married a cat person, not a dog person).  So, I had to retrain the dog not to be on furniture.  It actually worked fine since Nikki, my Cocker Spaniel, was already old when we moved here and could not get on things anyway.  Then when Squash came, he never even tried to get up on any furniture.  When I got Louise I trained her that the floor was her domain but my daughter allowed her on her bed, unbeknownst to me at first, and then it became a habit.  Then, to keep her from stealing my office chair, I gave her a chair in my office.  Then she started to snuggle on the couch with me in MY den (only my daughter and I use it) but not in the family living room (that we all use).  Are you getting the picture?  Well the other day I came out of my office and V was fast asleep on the living room couch and Louise was asleep on the other living room couch: what V doesn’t know won’t hurt anyone, right?  So the question of the days is….  can you teach dogs that it is OK to go on some furniture pieces put not on others?  and the other question I have is…. can you have different rules for one dog then you have for another in the same house?  Like can Louise go on a certain chair but Sofie can’t?  (Not that I would do that but I am just asking the question.).  Well Louise is back and I am sensing she wants to go outside so I better listen.  Just another DogDaz evening at my house. ❤

Louise on my office chair

Louise on her office chair

Louise is too big for her chair

 
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Posted by on January 4, 2012 in Dogs

 

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Koi & Dog

04 Jan
 
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Posted by on January 4, 2012 in Dogs

 

1.3.12 22:00: 3 Cat Night

03 Jan

OMG!  The wind has come in all the way from the great lakes and it has even brought snow flurries, if you can believe it.  This is the first winter that Sofie will experience snow (she just turned 1).  Today did not give us any accumulation of snow, so I don’t even know that she noticed on our chilling walk.  My goodness it is cold.  I think that Sofie is the kind of dog that really likes the cold since she has this really thick coat (so did Squash).  Louise, on the other hand, though she looks like a Lab, has a very thin single coat of hair (which falls out everywhere, all the time, like black tumble weed). I think that she is definitely part hound (by her coloring I am thinking Plott hound – brown and black stripes). When I let her out on cold days, she is back at the door quickly wanting to come in.  Poor baby does not even like to sit on the kitchen floor because we keep this old drafty house so cold.  Our house is upside down (we sleep downstairs and live upstairs) and the thermostat is upstairs in the living room, which we keep at about 68 degrees (F), so my bedroom is usually about 63 degrees on a good day.  I know my daughter’s room is usually about 58 at night because her heater has a thermometer on it when I turn it on.  Anyway, I think maybe that I should get Louise a coat.  I have a sweater for her but it does not fit right.  She has this really muscular chest and skinny back end.  I have seen these really nice coats that they have for grayhounds.  I see another internet research project coming on.  The dogs have several blanks in their kennels and I cover it with a sheet at night, so I figure they are OK.  Me, I have tons of blankets, and I warm the bed with a heating pad before I get in.  I know that Lulu would love to come snuggle in my bed with me, but no dogs are allowed on the bed, that is the domain of the cats.  If I let all 5 animals on the bed with 2 humans, I know I would be the one that would never get any space.  Wait! I already don’t have any sleeping room. How is it that an 8 lb cat turns into a St. Bernard when it is sleeping in your bed?  3 cats at night are enough. Well, it is just another dogdaz evening at my house. ❤

Louise's first snow (2010)

Snow Paws

Lulu licking snow off of Squash's head

Squash E Bear in snow light

 
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Posted by on January 3, 2012 in Cats, Dogs

 

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Time to be a cat

03 Jan
Being a person is getting too complicated

Time to be a cat.

image

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Posted by on January 3, 2012 in Cats

 

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1.3.12 6:05: Sofie The Anti-Command Dog

03 Jan

Happy and sad that it is the start to the new work year.  Woke the dogs up (instead of the reverse) in the still dark and really cold morning.  They say it won’t move above freezing today, which will be really hard since it has been so winter warm this year.  Got to dig out the face mask and the thermal underwear for our walk. (Some year I am going to buy one of those really long down coats that go to my ankles – maybe when all 3 kids are out of college.)  Usually gets warmest around mid afternoon, but don’t know if the monsters can wait that long.  Sofie is barking her head off at shadows this morning.  No amount of rolled up towels (‘bonkers’) thrown at her or water in the face from a squirt gun (both things the trainer told me to do) work.  There she goes again!  I think she has super sensitive hearing (better then Louise who is not barking) and hears stuff outside that we can’t.  I don’t have much other reason.   Lulu, my fearful one, barked a lot when she first came, but a few ‘bonks’ and ‘no’ really made the difference with her.  Sofie – forget it.  This is the ANTI-command dog.   I had to start using ‘Don’t’ instead of ‘No’ for Sofie’s ‘stop that’ word because I was saying it so much that Lulu was getting anxious. Other than a shock collar, which I am really opposed to, how do you get an anti-command dog to stop barking when they are under the trees at the fence line?  I figure when I yell at her she just figures that I am joining in the song.  Your thoughts and suggestions are very welcome.  Just another DogDaz morning at my house. ❤

Front door watches

Backdoor watchers

 
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Posted by on January 3, 2012 in Dogs

 

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The Saturday Pet Blogger Hop

03 Jan
Click this pic for more great Pet Blogs
 
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Posted by on January 3, 2012 in Dogs

 

1.2.12 19:40: Herding Cats

02 Jan

Put the dogs in day care today.  What a wonderful and lucky thing that is.  They so enjoy spending the day running with all the other doggies in a safe and structured environment and I don’t have to keep them locked up all day because I am not home.  It is so funny when they get in the car because they both have to tell me all about their day. When they are this wound up when they get home however, they drive the poor cats crazy.  They just continue the running for about an hour.  It took me awhile to realize that Sofie (part Sheltie/Corgie maybe) was actually trying to herd the cats.  Well, the cats just don’t like that idea at all.  Now everyone is zonked out, fast asleep on their dog bed on the office floor (with Noel the Christmas cat in her pink bed on my desk).  Funny how this day started with a blog about sleep and is ending with them all sleeping.  Just another DogDaz evening her at my house. ❤

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Noel sleeping in the window

 
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Posted by on January 2, 2012 in Cats, Dogs

 

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1.2.12 6.05

02 Jan

Ok, so let’s talk about sleep.  I read somewhere that cats sleep about 18 hours a day and I can absolutely attest to that.  But dogs?  Is there an average amount of sleep that they need?  I know that I have trained my dogs to sleep based on my work and life cycle.  They go to bed at 9:15 PM (21:15) (arbitrary choice but it is the same thing I used to do with the kids when they were little) and get up with me at 5:50 AM (no choice, I have to get going).  My dogs are in closed kennels at night (please don’t tell Louise that her door is closed but not locked. she likes the safety of it all) so that they don’t eat some cat during the night, or more so, something that they shouldn’t that could hurt them, Sofie actually goes to her kennel and falls asleep outside the door quite often.  I have to keep the kennel doors closed at all times because some stupid cat (probably Miss Constance Kitty) likes to pee on dog beds, so the dogs can’t just go in them at will.  Sofie does not like going into her kennel but she likes to be next to it.  She actually does not like to go into anything (but that is another story) but will go ‘nite, nite,’ with reluctance.  Louise on the other hand LOVES her kennel and goes right in, lies down, closes her eyes, and goes right to sleep.  I am sure that different animals, just like people, need different amounts of sleep.  I don’t sleep much: I haven’t slept more then 4 hours at a time in about 30 years (OK, don’t go there, I know it is probably not a good things but I am used to it).  I am worried sometimes that my schedule is not the best for the animals.  I do cover the cages so that they dogs can not see me get up, however, I think they are tied to my breathing (I know the cats are) and they can sense when I am awake.  For years, I had older dogs or puppies who would wake me in the middle of the night to pee.  Oh yes, there were children who did that too for many years.  Well, the dogs have finished their breakfast and are now sleeping in my office while I type (nice that they get a nap).  So, how much sleep does an average dog need?  I see an internet search coming on.  Maybe after my second cup of coffee.  Just another DogDaz morning,

Napping on the office bed

Napping with a smile

Puppy Louise napping on deck
Napping in the car
 
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Posted by on January 2, 2012 in Dogs

 

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