She's Back

Guess who is staying with us for a week?

Yep, cousin Emma is here for a week! Be prepared for chaos! 

Life with 4

For the holidays my parent's dogs, Tendra (whose name is the last 3 letters of my name and the last 3 letters of my sister's name) and Barley, have been staying with us. My parents have been dividing their time between our place in the country and my sister's in the city. For a few nights the Man and I were alone with the 4.

Getting ready to take 4 out

Having 4 is fine, it is a little more work than 2. It seems whenever we go out, 3/4 are good and one is not. For example: On different occasions Tendra and Barley have both taken themselves for walks, not too far, but far enough.  Phod (who has lost and found precious in the past few days) was a jerk when playing with ball when we were all out and kept taking all the balls. Hailey is always good outside as she is always on leash.

The biggest change has been adjusting our routine to fit our company's schedule. Tendra is a very routined pup and can be very, very annoying when her routine is not followed. She will obsessively bark until she is fed/given her kong/taken out etc. etc. She is probably the most difficult of the pups as she is far more demanding than even Hailey (which is actually hard to imagine!). Barley, is very much like Phod in temperament and is easier.

Three doing tricks for treats, from the back - Hailey, Barley and Tendra

Phod during training time. He is just not that motivated for cookies

The Man is very glad that they are not all perfect and hopes that it stops me from wanting another dog!

Mischief Monday - Living with Four

Barley

On Thursday, The Lady's parents (Grammie and the Big Guy) arrived. They spent Friday with Lady and Man before leaving Barley and Tendra at our house and going to the city to be with Aunt C, Uncle D and cousin Maggie (their house isn't really Lab friendly).

This left Lady and Man the only people in the house with 4 dogs from Friday pm until noon on Sunday.  This is Lady's dream, she wants more pups (don't worry, Man has said no).

Overall, it went really well. The going out during the day is easy, 3 can be off leash and one needs to be on leash. At dawn and dusk, when they need to be on leash due to the wildlife either both people need to go, or the Lady takes them in pairs and the Man one by one. For meal time, Lee and Phod ate in the kitchen and we feed the visitors in the garage.

One of the problems with all four was sleeping. 3/4 are use to sleeping with their people (Phod is a floor sleeper). On Friday night Lee slept at her place at the bottom of the bed and Barley slept horizontally across Lady's pillow, so his butt was on Lady's shoulder all night, pushing Lady to the middle of the bed and crowding the Man. Tendra sleep parallel to him at the bottom of the bed. It was a little cozy. On Saturday, Lady and Tendra slept in the bed, Lee was on and off, Phod took his place on his bed on the floor. Man chose the couch over either of the 2 guest beds, and Barley slept on the one of the guest beds. Everyone was happier.

Sunday, the girl dogs were good but restless. Not sure if it was because they knew Grammie and Big Guy were coming (and Aunt C, and Uncle D, and cousin Maggie and Uncle Chris - next weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and we celebrated it early as we could all be together), or because they were there, but one of the female dogs were annoying pretty much from 10 am until 6 before everyone settled.

Overall, the girl dogs get a C+, the boy dogs get A+, so our average was B+ with 4 dogs. It is a good thing that everyone gets along and it is doable because the pups will be living together later this year for 2.5 weeks when Man and Lady go away.

Tendra (left) and Barley

Tendra