Revenge

As told by Lee:

Yesterday started like a normal day. My lady took me for my morning walk (which was slow because she brought Gemi). She left me with my greenie when they went to work. My lady came home from work and took me to the park. I ran for 45 minutes, it was fun! When I got home my Aunt C was here, so I got to see her. Then I got an early dinner. I was so excited.

I was so excited that I missed that this was a sign that I was likely to be abandoned. Dustin came, and them my people left. They left me on a work day evening. I have them well trained so they don't usually do this sort of stupid thing. They got home late by my estimation. At least they didn't come in smelling like other animals.

Then to make it worse, they wanted to go to bed right away, there was no playing. They did let me go outside. So we went to bed. And I was mad about not getting the attention I deserve. So I spent the night plotting my revenge.

This morning at 5:30 (which I knew was too early by how they slept), I kept scratching at the bedroom door. My lady was forced to get up and let me out. She was worried I really had to go (which I didn't, I just wanted to be up). Then when she tried to get a little more sleep on the couch, I kept asking to go out. When she left the door open so I could just go in and out, and I realized she wasn't looking because I had taken a lot of babies outside, I started jumping on and off the couch, chasing the cats, doing lots of things that were loud. That will teach her for leaving me.

A conversation

Me: "Can I have a puppy?"

He: "You  have 2 puppies."

Me: "Can I have another puppy?"

He: "No. There will be no more puppies."

Me: "But I think the blog is getting boring."

He: "I don't care if the blog is boring. No more puppies."

Me: "Can we foster a puppy?"

He: "No. Fostering a puppy is just us pretending we are not having 3 dogs. So no."

Me: Sigh . . . .

I think you are in my spot

Lee waiting patiently for the man to move out of her spot. 

Catch me if you can

Lee at the park running with a stick. She only wants to run if someone is chasing her. 

There is no sleeping in here

Told by Lee

I do not know what is wrong with my people. Many mornings at least my lady gets up with me when the sun comes up. She seems to understand my need to check out the world on these days. I love her for it, even if she leaves me a lot during the day. However, there are some days that she and the man do not get up when I am ready. I don't want them up because I have to go to the bathroom or anything, I want them up because I have things to do, things to smell, squirrels to chase. I try and wake them up with a gentle scratch on the door. This is how I communicate I need to see the world. Usually if they are in bed, this doesn't work, I get told "Hailey come back to bed." Even though this isn't what I want I like the attention and am happy to crawl into bed for love.  But then after a few minutes I get bored. Since the door thing hasn't worked, I try the go to lady's side of the bed, lick her face, paw her hand. Again I get told "Hailey come back to bed."  I generally repeat this process until they are up.

This morning they were doing a great job at ignoring me, so I asked Gemi if she would help me. She agreed it was time to get up and do dog things, so she employed a method that really seemed to help, she got up right beside the lady's head and licked and licked her ears, while I went and scratched at the door. Finally my lady said "Enough already, I am getting up." (Note I have written this in a PG version, what the lady actually said included rude language I do not want to repeat.) I was excited it worked.

My lady may not think I pay attention to her and her work, but I think I could be a behaviour analyst too. I was able to change behaviour!

A Storm

We had another summer thunderstorm, and Miss Hailey Bug was not thrilled. (That is two nights in a row!) She did not hide, she just sat on the couch. Getting her to go out was a huge challenge and I wish I had thought to make a video of how silly I looked. The thunder and lightning had stopped and I wanted her to go out before I went out. It was raining. In the end I had to carry her to the grass and block her access to the door to get her to pee. She wouldn't do all her business out there and she did have a poo accident later in the evening. Around 1 am she decided it was safe enough to venture out again and she has had no problems so far this morning. My dog is a wimp!

I don't like this!

Company is coming

Both girls have gotten a little out of control when company comes. I think the problem is all the people who come are favorites. Also, they do compete for attention. To try and stop this we tried something new. Aunt C called right before she got here and on leash the girls went. On leash the stayed until calm (about 10 minutes). It may have been faster if they didn't know a new cat (we are cat sitting) came in. This worked well. Gemi still got a love nip in, but not a flying through the air nip. Lee carried on like we were beating her but overall it went much better. Will try again next time the extended pack is over.

A nap with baby

                                                Pictures taken over about an hour and a half.

First baby is a pillow.

Then there is spooning.

More snuggling.

Back to being a pillow.

Needing a little space.

Is baby going to fall?

When the nap is over, baby spends time on the floor!

Pictures

Thanks to Mel for letting me know these were ready (I can't make a comment on my own blog for some reason).


I have figured out how to put them here (I am becoming good at this tech stuff).

To see other beautiful dogs go to:

http://elizabethandjane.ca/proofs.

Click on client proofing.

Click on Westfest 2011.

 

They are so beautiful!

Sunbathing

Now that the nice weather is here, the girls love to lay out in the sun. This would be fine if they would go out and lay there and be happy. Rather it looks something like this:

One dog scratches to go out, you get up put them out. You ask the other dog if she would like to go out, she gives you the look of death. So you sit down. No sooner have your butt checks hit the couch, inside dog asks to go outside. You put her out. About 10 -15 minutes later (depending on the temperature), one dog asks to come in. You ask the other one if she wants to come in and she looks at you like you are stupid. Again as soon as you sit down, she asks. Then they are both inside for 10-15 minutes and the whole thing starts all over again. 

 So now you are asking yourself why don't I just leave the door open (and sometimes I do), but if you leave the door open, the bugs come in, the indoor cats go out, and Hailey plays the take all my toys out game.   So I keep the door closed and consider all the standing and sitting part of my daily exercise!  

Add caption

                                                                    

Happy First Day of Summer!

                           May the summer be filled with boundless joy!                                     \

Hailey at Play

We took the girls to Stanley park to run on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Lee made some friends and had a great time running. She even ran  a bit through water (not on the video).  She is the little black dog who starts on her back and is usually in the lead is her. Note: She is not always running full tilt here. She adjusts her speed depending on who is chasing her.

Are you going to share?

In our house, Miss Lee gobbles her food and Miss Cricket eats very slowly. This means Lee is done well before Gemi and then spents the next few moments sitting and waiting patiently to see if Gemi is going to share! Occassionally she gets to close, and Gemi tells her and she backs up. Overall it is not a huge issue.

Nap

A Saturday afternoon nap

Posted from relay for life at 4:50am after being up all night and jealous of people sleeping;)

She is so cute when she is quiet

Catching some love time. It totally makes up for all the bad stuff

I said rub my belly

When it is belly rub time, Miss Lee, comes lays on the couch near you, and assumes this position.

The mid-belly rub face!

Twins



Lee and Baby (who is back after a holiday) enjoyed a snuggle after a good play. This is not a staged picture:)



Give me that

I am not very "domestic." I preferred shop to home ec. My ability to sew is very limited. I usually either pay someone to sew or wait for my mom to come and let her use her domestic goddess skills. However, so I am not buying a baby a day, I am trying to fix Lee’s toys. Favourite Baby had been ripped apart for months and I thought, it is time to fix him. Turns out the sewing was the easiest part, it was keeping someone from stealing him while I was sewing was the hardest!

Lee: "I will save you Baby!"

The weekend from 3 perspectives

Saturday:

From Lee:

Oh, I was so happy to be alive and to go in the car. I could tell we were not going the right way and I told me people, “This is not the way to the park,” they told me to be patient, we were going somewhere new. Finally we got there, and it was great. There were new places to sniff, water to bark at and I got to sniff and walk. The only thing that would have been better is if I was off leash.

From Gemi:

I was excited when we first went in the car. Maybe we were going to the park. Then we got somewhere else and it was a stupid walk. There were people but they did not appreciate me, they didn’t stop and pet me. We had to walk a lot and it was hot. Then the worst part is my lady carried me across a road. She said I was walking to slow and it was a busy road. Sigh! And I had to sit in the back seat of the car, so I didn’t get good A/C.

The Lady:

It was a beautiful sunny day, so we took the dogs for a walk by the river. They were good, but Gemi was very slow by the end.

Lee:

After our walk the weekend went bad. First we drove and only Gemi got out of the car. I had to stay. I protested, loudly. This would be bad enough but then the physical abuse started. I don’t know why they insist on taking me for a nail clipping. I tired to get someone to save me but no. I did get a lot of cookies though. Then I got to go home and Gemi came home and then my people left me forever. I was so sad I had to sleep.

Gemi:

The day just didn’t get any better, they took me to the groomer. I got clipped and cleaned and I smell gross. I also have stupid bows (but I have been able to lose one of them). I don’t care how pretty I look, the groomer is not fun. I was glad when the people went out, they couldn’t abuse me anymore.

The Lady:

After our walk, we dropped Gemi at the groomer and took Lee for a nail cut. Lee put on a show. She was screaming so loud you could hear her outside. Everyone in the store gathered around the window to watch. It was embarrassing. After Gemi was done at the groomer, we went to spend time with Uncle Chris and drive him to the airport for his deployment.

Sunday:

Lee:

I got to go to heaven today. The streets were paved with popcorn. It was great. Then I met this nice lady who gave me lots of treats. I didn’t care that she was dressing me up, she had great treats. It was so great. Why isn’t every street paved with popcorn?

Gemi:

Ok, I generally don’t like a walk, but my people took me to a great place, it was full of people and full of people who pet me and told me I was beautiful.  It was great. The lady who dressed me up, had great cookies and told me how beautiful I was so I tolerated her. It was a nice walk.

The Lady:

We took the dogs to Westfest to get their pictures taken on a red carpet. The photo shot was to benefit BARK dog rescue. The girls were very good. Lee was a bad puller the first 10 minutes or so and then settled.  There was popcorn spilt all over the street. We had never taken her to a large crowd like this and I thought she did great. Both were super for their pictures (which will be ready in a couple of weeks) so I am a proud mom. Both are now exhausted and sleeping.

It was a good weekend!

Godspeed Uncle Chris

Uncle Chris is being deployed for a tour in Afghanistan. He will be missed by all, but especially his favourite, Miss Gemini.

Be safe Uncle Chris!

An attempt at a video

This is Gemi, asking for pizza, one of her favourites

Guilt

Since I got Lee in September there has been a slight change to my work life.  I now have to be out of town about 2 nights a week. (I know it seems like more, but I don’t usually go to Bali for 3 weeks, and my conference is only 1 time a year). This does not seem completely unreasonable. I think for the most part I am a good dog owner. I live my life around my dogs. However, I have this tremendous guilt about it.

This is caused in part by the fact that while my husband adores them and does things with them, the agreement when we got them was they were my dogs. I am responsible for being the primary caregiver. Now before I took this work, he said he had no problem with it and encouraged it. He has been great with it. But I still feel bad for violating our agreement.

The second part is the dogs themselves. When I was leaving Wednesday morning, Hailey gave me those eyes, those eyes that all dog owners know. The “I can’t believe you are leaving me again. Don’t you love me?” eyes. They just break your heart. I felt bad about them the whole 3 hour drive!

Then I feel bad for missing moments of their short lives. My guilt was made worse Wednesday evening when that big thunderstorm moved in. (We had one where I was as well, I think a lot of the province did). I knew that my husband wouldn’t be home from work yet and she would be alone. I wanted to get in my car and drive home to give her a hug! My poor baby! I missed Hailey catching her first squirrel. I often miss other cute things.

The last part is the home coming. They both act like I was away forever. Lee is ecstatic to see me. While I know this is in part because she missed me, one can’t help feel loved. But I feel bad to make her think that she missed me that much. Gemi on the other hand does the “I am excited to see you” for about 3 minutes and then she remembers that I left her and she gets mad at me and sits and gives me the glare of death. If I  try and give her attention my little drama queen purposely looks the other way. After a few hours she comes around and will be friends again. She decides when, she comes over and demands love.

I must say I don’t know how working parents do it! Maybe kids are easier to leaveJ

Getting LeeLee love after my return

Are we there yet?

Lee looking out the car window hoping the park is near

New Game

As told by LeeLee.

Here is the game.

As soon as your people open the door to let you out, you grab a toy and take off out the door with it.
Then your people yell things like "Bring baby back" and you run toward them like you are going to and then you take off again out the door. If you play the game right, they will chase you around the yard, but you are so fast they will never catch you.

Hitch with this game in this house. I live with a behaviour analyst, who started the game today and then stopped and went back inside. When I came to see why she wasn't chasing me or calling me, she was mumbling something about this behaviour being maintained by attention and she was going to decrease it by not providing attention, putting it on extinction. I think all of this means she is just not fun. I kept trying. I took 3 toys out, but she wouldn't chase me.

At least my man is more fun and he still plays!

You are "bleeping" kidding me

In general, Miss Hailey Bug is blocked into our room so she doesn’t make a huge mess in the night. For some reason my Prince Charming did not take this precaution. I found it very suspicious that Miss Bug was not in the room when I got up (usually she is there, in my face, carrying on while I try to go to the bathroom). I came down to this:

Not the best way to start your day!

I need comfort

My big dog is a wimp. As mentioned in previous posts, she doesn’t like baths, nail cutting, and the vet. We also she knew she didn’t like thunder, and on the holiday weekend we found out she didn’t like fireworks. In these moments she looks for comfort. Here are some pictures of this.

Lee snuggling the man and Nin during fireworks

T

Lee trying to find comfort from the couch (even though she is dozing off) during a thunderstorm.

Love

Look at how cute my snuggle girls are!

Stop and smell the flowers

Even if they are dandilions!

Lee, loving a field of dandilions

Gemi stopping to smell the dandilion

Can cats go senile?

Question: Can cats go senile?

Recently, Bagheera, aka Baggy Pants, has been tolerating the presence of the dogs. For over 8 years, Baggy has done his best to ignore/avoid the dogs. In fairness, Loki spent his life trying to catch Baggy, and Gemi hasn’t been the nicest at times.  However, I never thought I would live to see this:

Perhaps at 16, Baggy has cat dementia! (That or the world really is ending).

HELP - LOST CAT

A friend of my sister's has lost his cat. I know how horrible having a lost pet feels. So I am posting it on his behalf.

The pile

Gemi piling her toys in the bed. She has a little OCD and likes to keep them together.

Lee trying to steal the toys from the pile.

Separetion Anxiety

Last evening to beat the heat (oh how I wish we had air conditioning) we walked to Dairy Queen. While Drew went in I was left outside with the girls. This did not make Miss Hailey Bug happy. She started crying and whining and jumping around. She was desperate to get to the door.  To try and keep her calm, I just kept putting her in a sit stay. She would calm down a little, but then someone would walk out of the store or by on the side walk and it started all over again. Clearly we need some practice at this.

Despite the heat, last night, my girl was glued to me.

"Don't ever leave me again"