Gemi’s new favourite place to sleep

Since the great peer on all the beds while I was away (see previous blogs by Aunt C), the dogs have not been as happy with their beds.

The one dog bed came clean and pee smell free, but I think is too fluffy for them. The cats use to sleep on it more, but now no one does. The foam one, I haven’t figured out how to get the pee out of the foam. I have been afraid to wash it. If anyone reading this knows if I can, please post a comment, I would like to have the bed back without having to buy a new one!

Without the beds, Gemi has created a new favourite place to sleep. I am not sure how this afghan keeps ending up on the floor, but I don’t mind!

Gemi loves her afghan on the floor.

I don't like that

One of the issues with spring and an almost record rainfall is the dog park gets really muddy.  The other day there were many spots we couldn’t go. Hailey went through the puddles like they weren’t there, while Gemi tried to tip toe through them and avoid them. Gemi would like to point out that she does have shorter legs than some, and at times the water goes up to her armpits.

It is also very challenging for Gemi to stay clean. After a good run at the cleaner parts of the park, Miss Cricket needed her paws  and belly wiped.  The first paw was met with some sighing. Paw 2, ended with me getting bitten. As I was wiping it, she pulled back, and yelped and then bit me. It didn’t break the skin, but it hurt. The rest of the paws and her belly were fine. I will try and be more careful next time I am wiping her paws.

I need to be free

As told by Miss Hailey Bug

My lady is having trouble understanding my exuberance for life. I love to run and be free. It is not that I am unhappy in my home, I love it here. My people are great. Gemi is a good big sister. I get to chase and hump Nin. Sometimes Baggy even lets me sniff him. It is great. But I have a natural traveling bug in me (My Lady of all people should appreciate that, maybe like her I am a Thursday’s child, I have far to go). There is just so much to see and do in the world and I want to do it all now!

So yesterday even though my lady suffered the mud at the dog park (Editor’s note, stay tuned for an upcoming blog about that), and when she got home we ran and played outside until I was zonked out, I still wanted more.

I happened to see my opportunity. My lady had given me the “leaving” cookie, which I waited for and took beautifully, and then as soon as she opened the front door I took off out of it.

The joys of being free. I didn’t even hear the lady calling me to come back. There were people walking down the street to smell. Then I went in the neighbour’ yard and ran around like a crazy dog. Unfortunately the only way to get out of the yard was the same as the way in (my mistake) and my lady caught me there. She unceremoniously dragged me home by the collar. Then she put me in the house and closed the door.

I knew I was in trouble because when she returned I gave her lots of love.

At least I didn’t destroy anything while she was gone or leave a mess. I can be good when I want to.

I love my bone!

Lee: "What, I love my bone, so sleeping with it is not as strange as you would think!"

Best Friends

The following is not a set up picture. It just happened. Lee was on the couch and Nin jumped up for the snuggle!

New Trick

I can go under the deck and come out all dirty!

Look at the dirty foot prints!

Editor's Note: There was whining when she came back inside after the Man blocked the access to under the deck. She knew this possible escape path was blocked!

Hoppy Easter!

Bodily Functions

My father has a song he sings “Bodily functions, bodily functions, we don’t talk about bodily functions,” but I think there is a time and a place for it and the time is now.

In the last 24 hours I have dealt with an unusual number of bodily functions. It started with cleaning up massive amounts of cat vomit in the basement. It appears someone (and my guess is Lemew, Aunt C’s cat) was either running up or down the basement stairs as he was doing it. Standing in one place would have been easier to clean up, but perhaps he was going for artistic and not easy.

Not to be left out of the attention someone else was getting, Miss Hailey Bug thought she would vomit up some bile in the living room. In the 8 months or so we have had her she has only thrown up a few times, so this is unusual.

Next on my to do list was to tackle the dog poop in the yard. I was not here during the last of the spring thaw so that was a huge project. I was amused when I found pieces of the remotes in the backyard. Now that is done, I will be going out much more frequently to keep it clean. It is just hard to do with the snow!

Then being in a poop mood, I scooped the cat litter which was the easiest of all the jobs. Every time I am doing this I wonder why I did not use my behaviour analytic skills to teach the cats to use the toilet (probably because I was a behaviour analyst when I got the cats). If I ever have more cats, that is what I am going to do!

Today, my morning started to day by stepping in, what I believe to be cat urine in the middle of the living room floor. Nothing says happy Saturday like that!

Now that I have dealt with all the bodily functions in a short period of time, I hope I get a break from them!

Where did that come from?

The other day I had a tight window of time between my Skype consult at home and leaving and arriving on time at a meeting a client’s house. I am quickly packing up to be on time, when I discover fresh blood on the couch.

I couldn’t leave the house knowing that someone was bleeding. My guess was that it belonged to Miss Bug as to keep her out of my hair while I was Skyping I gave her a raw hide chew as a special treat. Sometimes these make her gums bleed a little. I thought it was too much blood for that, but I would check her first.

Getting her to check was a bit of a challenge, not because she was afraid or me or anything, but rather she had a tiny piece of raw hide left that she was desperately trying to bury in the couch. (She really wanted to bury it outside, but I wouldn’t let her, she has enough holes out there!). I caught her, and there it was a big scrap on her nose. I have no idea how she got this. While there are currently 3 cats in the house (our 2 and Aunt C’s), none have claws. The cut was very minor and did not seem to bother her, in fact, it didn’t even seem to be bleeding any more. I guess she put all the blood on the couch! In the end I was only 5 minutes late and I stayed 5 minutes longer, so it all worked out.

The Bad Vet

Editor’s note: For 8.5 years, I was the owner of a little dog named Loki. Even though he had an auto-immune disorder and had more medical procedures than most, he loved going to the vet. He would be so excited he would pee on the floor! He loved everyone and no one could believe how good he was when they were doing some very invasive stuff to him. I couldn’t understand why people complain about having to go. I now know why they do.


As told by LeeLee and Gemi

G: It was a really gross day out. I was glad when the Lady was taking me in the car. I do not like freezing rain.
LL: I was excited to be in the car, but it was too long. I had to cry and whine and carry one. Oh why do they torture me so?
G: As soon as we got to the vet, I was a little scared. I whined a little and I wanted to sit with the Lady, but I knew I was safe.
LL: It was the worst place I have ever been to. It smelt funny. There was this horrible cat that I was not allowed to get. I wanted to get her but the Lady wouldn’t let me. I was scared too and I was shaking and crying. Then they came and took the cat away because I was making too much noise. It was still horrible.
G: LeeLee you were not crying, you were screaming.
(Editor’s note – the sound she was making is best described as a scream. It was this high pitched whine that was clearly bothering the staff there and I have never heard before).
G: I got so excited that people came in to see me  that I tried to nip them. I did not like getting in trouble for this.
LL: This is when the bad stuff really started to happen. We had to leave the sitting area to go to this torture device in the floor. I tried everything not to go on it, I made myself small and flat, but still I was forced on.
G: LeeLee you are over dramatic, it was just a scale. It did not hurt.
LL: It was horrible!
G: We had to wait forever to see Woody, and LeeLee kept crying and screaming and she was embarrassing. Finally we got to go to the examining room. We saw people on the way, and I wanted to go see them, but Lady wouldn’t let me. She told me they were crying because they must have just said good bye to a pet.
LL: Finally we were in a safer place. I didn’t mind this little room, I got to run and sniff and I stopped crying. Then this guy came in who at first I thought was nice.
G: Woody is very nice. I love him. I nipped him. He said I seemed like a different more out going dog. I was good with my needle and exam and I am very healthy, but I didn’t like the treat he tried to make me eat. Lady had some I like better.
LL: You can say the man was nice because he was nice in the room. It is when they take you out of the room that the bad things happened. It was horrible I can’t even describe it. I am having flashbacks, I think I must rest.

Lee nursing her wounds

Editor’s note: Hailey did a great job with the physical exam and got a clean bill of health. She was taken to the back for her shots and to get a heartworm test. While sitting in the lobby, the Lady and Gemi could hear her screaming some more. When the technician brought her out, Lady was embarrassingly informed that 3 adults could not keep the Lee still enough to get the blood. Clearly they had tried as she had a bandage on. The technician wanted her to come back next week. When the vet came out with the heartworm medication, he said they tried everything reasonable and he did not want to stress poor Hailey out more, so he said she would be fine and they could try the blood work again next year.  Both dogs were good while the Lady paid the bill and were very quiet on the drive home. After the vet, both were exhausted and quieter than they even after an hour run at the park! Perhaps visiting there is a good way to exhaust them!

9/10

A conversation from yesterday:

The Lady: "LeeLee, on harness you are a very good walker, I am giving you a 9/10."
Lee: "Why only a 9 if I am very good?"
TL: "Well you did pull to go after the birds and bunnies. And since it was garbage day, I had to say a lot of leave it. I also had to remove the gum from your mouth, so I think that only gets you a 9."
L: "But I am a puppy. I am suppose to do those things."
TL: "Well then you are going to have to live with the 9."
L: "Sigh . . . . at least I ate my breakfast, Gemi didn't do that, so I get a 10 for eating."
TL: "Let's not even go there . . . . "

New Baby

This is the new baby LeeLee picked out at the pet store.

For the rest of the day after getting it, she didn't put it down (except to eat).

She is too cute!

Tired Princess

Gemi: "A day at the puppy spa can sure tire a girl out!"

Try to get out of that!

We believe we have successfully created a puppy prison. We believe this because when we sent our girl out free after we had spent 45 minutes, she was mad! I think she knows she is stuck in.

Now to back track to cover the adventures of creating a prison:

I had lunch with a good friend with a van. She offered to take me to Home Depot to get the supplies. So after lunch we go and get some materials and talk to the very helpful young man who had about how to do this. This was the easy part.  The challenge became loading these huge pieces of steal trestles.  They were too long to fit in her van. We tried many things which were not graceful and did some damage to the inside of her car, but they would not fit. So she says “we are smart women we can figure this out.” We start to bend them and use the tie things to seal them. They are still not going to fit. Then I have the idea to bend them flatter by stepping on them. This did make them flat enough to fit in the van. Of course they did not slide nicely, oh no, due to the seatbelts they kept getting stuck. Really it was a royal pain and when I thanked her, she jokingly said “I can’t even say it wasn’t a problem.” The pieces came out much easier than they went in.

Then Drew and I dragged them to the back and pulled out the little white fence and started to bang the poles in for the new one. Problem is, the ground is still pretty frozen in places so we couldn’t sink them all as deep as we wanted. But we were able to get them all in deep enough to stand, and this will due for a couple weeks until the ground is not as frozen. Because we can’t sink it as deep, I decided to run the old white fence in front of it, just to keep her from digging.

So building this fence was easier than buying the materials. Who would have thought!

Other blogs

I am not the only dog blogger out there. I have come across a couple great blogs that I wanted to share.

http://ottawadogblog.ca/  This is an excellent blog that is everything dog. In August, if I don't kill them before that, Gemini and Hailey will have a dog of the week spot (I will remind everyone before that)

http://furryfourleggedfosterfriends.blogspot.com/ This is great blog that shares the joys and heartaches when fostering dogs.

The price of freedom

Not unlike teenaged humans, it appears Miss Bug overindulged when she was exploring the neighbourhood.  As a result, immediately after my shower, Miss Bug proceeded to throw up on the carpet in my bedroom. I was unable to tell what she ate that upset her stomach, really it could be anything.  If only I thought she would learn not to eat things from this, but I know I am not that lucky!

The price of freedom!

Now that my heart has stopped pounding out of my chest I can fill you in on what happened.

After a first check of the neighbourhood I called Drew who rushed home from work. While waiting for him I did do a drive around, but realized I was much to upset to be doing this while driving. I came home to check to see if she was here. When he arrived home, he set off first on foot and then by car looking for her. I stayed home to email the Humane society lost and found and some other things I could do and monitor the phone and check for her.

Approximately 1 hour after she left, the neighbour next door came and said “your dog just got out.” She was standing at the corner of the street. My guess is that she was heading home. I called her and she came right to me and in she came (and I mauled her). She seems fine except perhaps the upset stomach. She is really not happy about being on her tie out in the backyard, but will have to live like that until hopefully tomorrow when I can borrow a friend’s van and go to Home Depot and get some things that hopefully will make it impossible for her to escape.

Thank you to everyone who helped/gave suggestions when she was missing. I hope it never happens again!

Hailey is home

That is all for now.

Hailey is Missing

This is not a joke and it is not funny. I am now officially the worst dog owner.

At approximately 11:30 this morning, Hailey escaped the backyard.  She could not have been missing for more than 5 minutes when I checked on her. An initial search has not turned her up. Drew is out searching the neighbourhood. I did an initial drive around and accosted everyone on the street I saw (and nearly got in an accident so I came home).

If anyone has seen her, please call. Her number is on her tag.

Thank you.

Mom is Home!

After 11 days with Aunt C, the Man came home. He and the pups had 4 ½ days of fun together. It went well (considering the Man’s jet lag). The Man got an appreciation for how much work the girls can be (especially in the morning before work). The only incident occurred on Wednesday, when the Man went out in the evening. We lost a second remote and someone pooped on the floor in protest.

The Lady arrived home yesterday afternoon. Feeling exhausted after 37 hours of travel around the world, she was thrilled to be greeted at the door by two very, very excited puppies. She was goosed in the bottom by a very thrilled Gemini and Hailey was beside herself with excitement. Miss Bug spent her evening touching the Lady. It was an early evening as some people were very tired and this morning the Lady was greeted by one very excited puppy, Miss Bug, who is so happy she is home. Currently Miss Cricket is remembering how angry she is at the Lady for abandoning her and leaving her with others. Miss Cricket has always done this when one of her pack has left for more than a night and will probably be over it in a few days.

Blog to return tomorrow!

Lady has returned from traveling and will get back to blogging tomorrow!

She is sure the girls and her will have a lot to talk about:)

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

This is probably my last post (althought you never know what coudl happen in the next 24 hours).

My time with the pups has had ups and downs. 

 The not so good:

• It's hard to get up early just to walk a dog
• When you get home from work, and you really just want to sit on the couch and relax and it's cold and raining, and you realize you have to take the dog for a walk, that really sucks.
• Destruction:
• 2 pet beds
• 1 Heart Baby
• 1 Remote Control
• Fur on everything, all the time
• Scratches to the face because sometimes when Lee wants attention, that's what she does
• Cleaning up pee from the floor
• Cleaning up poop from the floor

The monumentally awesome:

• Finally figuring out a method of walking Lee that's totally agreeable to everyone!
• Seeing Lee run at the park with the other dogs, it's pure joy
• Gemi's smiling face when she's on a walk or at the park on a nice day (even if she's a little slow at walking, or if she's not playing much with the other dogs, she's still so happy to be there!)
• Warm bodies cuddled up against you in bed
• Having one so happy to see you every time you get home that they can't contain themselves and jump (and even escape!)
• Having another so happy to see you every time you get home that they can't contain themselves and bite you!
• Never feeling lonely, not even for a second
• Always feeling loved, needed and appreciated, every single second

They really are wonderful dogs, and it's been great hanging out with my old pal Gemi and getting to know and falling in love with my new "bestie" Hailey!

I leave you with some pictures of them at their sweetest!

A Walk to Remember

Upon recommendation from a friend, I decided to try walking Lee on her harness today, instead of collar.  SUCCESS!!!  She pulled WAY less, and it was easier to hold the leash in a way that forced her to walk right beside me.  Unfortunately, Gemi hasn't been feeling great this week... she wanted to come for the walk, but she was having trouble keeping up, so it was a short walk.  This is the conversation after the walk.

Aunt C:  Hailey, that was amazing!  Your walk is up to a 9!! 
Hailey:  What?  That was my best walk, it should be a 10!
AC:  But you lose a few marks for still being all over the place a lot at the start.  And for trying to eat the dead bird again.
H:  But that's what you do with dead birds, you eat them!!
AC:  Oh Lee, you are so funny.  It was a great walk. 
H:  I know, because I'm great.  That Gemi though, she was so slow, she gets a -4.
AC:  Lee, that's not fair at all! 
H:  I guess.  +4.
AC  Oh Lee.  Gemi, you get a 9.5, because you're still an awesome walker, even when you're tired.
Gemi:  Thank you Aunt C.  I love you.
H:  I love you more.  You can tell because I'm bigger so I have more love.
G:  No way!
H:  Yes way!
G:  But I've known her longer.

This argument continued on for a while until a truce was formed.  You're never short of love when you're with these dogs!

Pet Bed Pee Bandit

When questioned in the recent rash of pet bed pee incidents, Miss Hailey Bug simply stated "Nin did it."

Investigators are awaiting DNA test results to confirm who the culprit was.

Sun and Fun

Some pics of the girls enjoying a sunny April day in the yard and at the park!

The Remote

Miss Bug denies any wrong doings in the case of the mutliated remote control.

"I admit that I chewed it, but I thought it was a bone!  It was just on the table, and it looked so yummy."

Authorities have let her off with a warning, as she did suffer consequences (remote control vomit was seen on the deck), and the device was easily replaced.  However, she is being watched closely.

Note:  Aunt C was told Lee did not eat remote controls.  Also, just to plug Rogers because I only hear bad things, they handed me a new one free of charge, no questions asked!)