Snow expected.
Sofie: “Muffin, how’d you get there?”
12.5.11 22:02 Fearing The Plastic Baby Jesus
Just got back from the grocery and it is interesting how Sofie missed me. I had C put the dogs in back while I was unloading, and, of course, because Sofie wanted to see me, she came right in when called. Now, how do I capitalize on that?
I really could have used that obedience earlier today when I was walking the girls. We were walking (as we do almost every morning) with Lulu’s boyfriend from next door, Mojo (this absolutely handsome champion dock diving black lab) and his human. About 3/4 of a mile into the walk we came upon a neighbor’s plastic nativity scene. Well, Sofie could not make sense of the plastic baby Jesus and she went crazy: barking, pulling away. Silly me, I think “I’ll take her up on the lawn and introduce her to Mary, Joseph, and the baby and she will calm down,” but oh no, she got so scared and bolted, so I dropped the leash and off she ran, coming back from time to time to try and bite the head of the scary thing in the basket. (No offense meant to anyone regarding their religious observance or choice of holiday decorations.) Finally, I took Louise off lead and told her to go get her sister (she will go and return her by the leash to me) but no….. Lulu goes and gets Mo’s lead instead (because he is more fun I guess). Well, finally, I did rangle the whole crew (with the help of Lulu) but it was a crazy 10 minutes.
This is exactly what they had on the lawn. Maybe it was the fact that the baby is all white. I know that white things used to scare my CockerSpaniel, Nikki, to death. Happy Holidays. I guess I won’t be walking by that house for another month or so.
12.4.11 22:10 Oh No, Not the Bonker!
Was so busy this weekend that the poor dogs got cheated out of the usual dog park and lots of mommy time. All the humans were out at the same time, so the pups spent several hours in their crates, which they are not used to. What’s interesting is that Sofie has been stuck to me like glue this evening. Maybe she needs more time away for me to start to tow the line. ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder?’ (and the puppy more obedient?) I am trying some renewed training tricks the last few days. I have the positive reinforcement (treats) close at hand (especially on a walk) and have the negative one too (‘the Bonker’ – a towel rolled up with 3 rubberbands keeping it together) at the ready (hidden in the small of my back like a secret gun). My hope is if I go back to square one – constant attention to positive and zero tolerance for negative – we will get somewhere this week. I have caught the killer cold for the rest of the family, so I will really need to muster up the energy to make sure that each one of the dogs is getting the focused attention they need. Whose idea was it to have a 1 and 2 year old dog at the same time? Just another dogdaz in paradise ❤
12.4.11 4:44 Ah, to be the food source
Funny how cats know the minute you are in that light sleep state. The Muffin Man (aka Muffy) has this way of sleeping on my head and then starts to nibble on my cheek the minute I am the littlest awake. You don’t see me waking him during his 18 hours of sleeping in various places around the house (the latest is in my purse on the kitchen table – go figure that one out). Now he is chewing on the phone cord on my desk while I type, because he decided “if the human is up, there must be food soon, and I want it now.” Ah, to be the food source; at least that gives me some sense of power in this relationship.
12.3.11 00:16 Please come in, I just want to go to sleep!
I forgot to put Sofie on the leash for her final pee before bed and accidentally let her out in the yard, so she ran around for about 1/2 hr playing her usual games before I was able to get her to come in and go to bed. Lulu goes right out, pees and comes back in to go nite-nite in the kennel. Got to figure something out really soon because I am tired of the games. She is so like a little kid that does not want to stop playing with her toys and go to bed. I guess it is back to puppy square one. No off leash unless I am willing to let her come in when she feels like it. And work on the come command 10 times a day. Never had a dog that I just could not get to do this. Half the time she won’t even look up when I call her name. Hey, maybe she has a hearing problem. Nah… she can hear a person walking in the street with all the windows closed or a dog barking in the next town. I love this dog but I really do not like her behavior at all.
12.1.11 11:24 Who left the gate open?
So I hear all this commotion outside my office window, while I am on a conference call, and V is calling Sofie and then about 10 minutes later C comes in my office, with a bag of turkey scrapes in her vegan hand, to say they left the gate open and Sofie is gone. So I take Louise, a couple of leashes, and the turkey, tell them to open the back gate, and send Lulu out to find Sofie and bring her back to me. Good thing I have Lulu or I would never be able to rangle that silly puppy. Teaching her to obey commands is getting more and more important and harder and harder. Thank goodness I taught the family that it is more important to stop the traffic when the dogs are running then to run after the dogs. Glad the family listens. Just another dogdaz morning. ❤
11.30.11 14:54 Dig this!
Can I dig here now?
I threw the dogs out back so that I could get some work done because they were really starting to whine and Louise always wants to paw me, but it is impossible to get Sofie back in. The only thing that seems to work is to wait her out (about 30 minutes) and then have some pieces of turkey inside the door and give it to Lulu in front of Sofie (while she is looking in) and then she will come in. Yes, I have resorted to bribery. This is crazy! I spent hours training this mutt and over $1k for trainers and there seems like nothing that I can do to get her to come. And, on top of that, since I end up leaving her in the yard, because I have to get back to work, she is digging her way to China – holes everywhere. I really am at wits end with this one. Out of 6 dogs, I have never had one that was so stubborn or willful. V wants me to get a shock collar but my gut is really against it, but what’s an owner to do? This is a hard one. Well now they are sleeping since they ran around and dug the yard up. Good, I can get back to work for a while. Just another DogDaz afternoon ❤
11.30.11 5:12 Shoes and Slippers
C doesn’t feel well and wants to stay home from school. She caught the cold from V, who was in bed all day yesterday, who caught it from K8 when she was home from college over the T-day holiday. But Grammie thinks they caught it all from her. How is it that even though I stay in bed and pretend to still be sleeping, the cats, who are right there so they know I am faking, and the dogs, who are across the room in their blanketed kennels, all know that I am awake and start to whine? Don’t you crazies know that humans are suppose to get more sleep? You sleep whenever you want. Cats, I read, sleep 18 hours a day. Me, I have a specific time when I can get a few zzzzs. Oh well, up and at it. Don’t think you are getting feed until at least 6:30 (or you will want dinner to early). Do they feel your energy subconsciously when you are trying to fake sleep? Does it hang in the air? Maybe I am moving my feet and they hear the rubbing of the sheets? I haven’t been able to sleep more than 2 hrs at a clip in about 20 years. I just figure that is my normal. The animals on the other hand see it as an opportunity to get in some late night snacks and conversation. Just another regular DogDaz morning. ❤
Lean on me
Why do dogs like shoes and slippers so much? Is it because they smell like us?
11.29.11 17:27 Rainy days are hard on dog & people too!
Rainy days are hard on the dogs. They run out of things to keep them occupied, just like kids do. Sometimes I realize they have a million toys, but their favorite one is… me. They are busy chewing on each other and chasing cats at the moment. I really need one of those tennis ball throwing machines with a zillion yellow balls (and some where in this little house to launch it). That would keep them occupied for a few minutes maybe. Oh well, can’t complain, they slept a good amount after our 1 mile walk in the midday downpour. And now my hair is so nice and curly. Oh well just another regular afternoon at the zoo. ❤
Lulu in the leaves
