Imagine - a world without pets

Disclaimer: I truly love my pack and hope to have them for a decade or so more. However, I do have moments (like when Lee jumps up and pees on the guest bed in front of the man for no good reason and 10 minutes later, Phod is off after the deer for a few minutes or I wake up to a huge puddle of mystery pee), when I imagine a world without my pack.

Here are some good things I imagine that would happen if I didn't have a pack:
-we would have nice things, like complete walls. (although having them wreck things is a good excuse to get new things)
-we wouldn't have to rush home to let the dogs out.
-I wouldn't be stressed every time I left them worrying that something was going to be destroyed today (although I may be more worried about someone breaking in).
-We would have more money. I don't for one second begrudge any $ spent on care and treats, I do begrudge money spent on replacing things someone chewed up.
-I wouldn't have as many conversations about bodily functions (for example, a morning conversation may be, Phod is empty, but Lee hasn't pooped yet so can you take her out again before you go to work?)
-I wouldn't have to scoop cat litter, pick up poop, clean up vomit as often.
-I would get to sleep in an extra hour every morning before work.
-Imagine all the room in bed!
-I would not need to sweep and vacuum as often (which may make me lazy about cleaning)


Here are some things that would suck:
-I wouldn't walk as much. I know there is no reason why I couldn't walk without the dogs, but I wouldn't do my 2.5-3.5 km most mornings without them. This would likely lead to me being overweight.
-Research shows people with pets live longer and are more relaxed (perhaps they weren't my pets).
-Life would be very quiet and maybe a little boring.
-I wouldn't have the excuse "Oh I need to go let the dogs out" to avoid social situations I don't like.
-I wouldn't have connected with all the great people through dog blogging (I doubt I would have found them without being a blogger myself).
-The house would feel empty.
-The joy would be gone from our house.
-I wouldn't have pet hair as the perfect accessory to every outfit.

At the end of the day, the pros to having my pack members (mainly the dogs, the cats at aged 17 are pretty chill), outweigh the cons and I know that without them I would be lost.

I guess life could be worse, I could have kids:)

Happy Friday!

The miracle pill that wasn't

After very careful consideration and consultation with our vet we decided to try Miss Hailey Bug on a medication to help with her anxiety. While I really didn't want to get to this point the stress of worrying about what she might do while we were out and the reality that we could not stay home all the time pushed me to try it.

Modelling the new thunder shirt

After a funny trip to the pharmacy to fill the prescription (I love that is says for Vet use only on the bottle, yet the fact sheet about the drug tells you not to drink while on it - Lee says it will be hard, but she will try not to drink), we gave it a try. Woody had suggested trying it for 10 days to break the cycle of anxiety. With a heavy heart (because I truly feel we have failed her given how anxious she is) we gave her the first pill at a time where we could watch her. If anything, she was more crazy, more fearless, doing more crazy play stuff. The second one didn't seem to have any noticeable effect either.

She has now been receiving this pill 2 times a day since Saturday night with no obvious change. In fact, she actually scratched the wall which we had almost finishing repairing on Tuesday (no thunderstorms came through).

One of the challenges with her anxiety is it is not consistent. It is not every day that she destroy things. You never know.

Yesterday we tried to keep the dogs in the basement (away from the wall to destroy). Hailey was in her new thunder shirt. They got out of the basement and were sitting waiting by the door when I returned, but no damage.

Not sure what we will do next. Sigh!

Wordless Wednesday

We are the same

After the wall incident (which is still not roll on the floor funny yet, but getting closer), I took some time to reflect on why, given all of Hailey's issues (if you are newer to the blog go back to when it started nearly 2 years ago for some great destruction stories), I just can't stop loving her.  Clearly she is beautiful and full of life but she is NOT a good dog, but I adore her.  It occurred to me I love her because she is me in dog form.

When I told my husband my conclusion he rolled his eyes but I think it is true.

Here is how we are the same:
1) We both love routine. We like things that are the same and predictable.
2) We don't mind people in general but both have a few special people we love.
3) We both could work on our listening skills.
4) We both suffer from anxiety. While I personally love a thunderstorm, I do have many other things in my life that cause me great anxiety. I have never ripped a hole in the wall or destroyed the carpet but I can totally relate to that feeling of panic. Even though I get really mad at her in the moment, when I step out of it, I feel totally bad for her and wish I could do something for her to help. (FYI: There have been times in my life where if I thought I could escape certain things by eating the wall, I would have). Only people who have anxiety can sort of relate to creatures with anxiety.
5) When we have our mind set on something there is nothing anyone else can do to regain our attention.
6) We are both stubborn.
7) We both know how to use our sad little eyes to get what we want from others.
8) We are both loud, head strong and independent.
9) We often will try and be sneaky and do things we know we should not.
10) Neither of us knows the word no (but somethings I think we should learn).

See, we are a lot a like and I think that is what has save my crazy dog many, many times!

We are experimenting with an anti-anxiety med this week for my girl (more about that later) and her thunder shirt arrived yesterday (can't wait to try it).

Zaphod at week 3

I realize I haven't done a true update on Phod for a while. The reality is, he just fits in so perfectly that it feels like he has always been here.

Here are some things we know about him:

He demands more love and snuggles every day.
He still can have very sad eyes at times, but we see those happy eyes more often!
He would play fetch forever. Fortunately our house is big enough to play inside. I am trying to limit it to play with soft toys.
He is the slowest eater we have ever had. He takes his time to eat. We have to keep Lee out of his food, she is not a slow eater.
He is having a really hard time learning the command down. We will keep at it.
His recall blows my mind. If he takes off into the woods after a deer or the turkeys I don't worry because I know in 1 minute he will be back at my side. (Even with the horses he came back soon).
He hasn't had an accident in the house since his first week here.
He has pup dreams and breathes really loudly when sleeping.
He was drinking water obsessively when he first came here, but that seems to be gone.
We have to keep the toilet seat down or we get wet bums when we sit down.
Turns out he loves to be brushed. Finally a dog that likes this. Lee gets jealous when you are brushing him, so you can brush her.
While he spends most of the night sleeping on the floor, he likes to come up for his pre-sleep snuggle on the bed before we go to sleep.
He really wants to make us happy.
We think he sleeps up against the front door when we are out. There are big glass windows he can look out.

He truly is a wonderful boy and we feel very blessed to have him in our pack. Initially we (and by we, I mean me) had planned to expand the pack in the fall. However, we are thrilled it happened earlier because he is just so wonderful! Let's just hope he stays out of the horse pen!

I'm a cowboy baby

The scene: A nice leisurely walk to the lake so the dogs can have a swim before we have to go into town. The Phod had been being so good he was off leash.

The place: Close to the lake by the barn.

The event: All hell broke lose.

The horses at a calmer time

Mr. Phod had determined he could get under the fence in with those big dogs (the horses). For what seemed like forever, but was likely a minute or so, he ran around them while they stomped and hollered. The man was screaming "Zaphod Come here" at the top of his lungs. Hailey and the Lady stood motionless. In the lady's mind "Do we need to go into the pen and get him? Will they kill him?"

Finally a very happy goofy looking, unhurt dog comes out from the horses to his people. He immediately falls to their feet and curls up like they will beat him. He did get a verbal scolding (because he actually deserved one) and then they continued to the lake. One of the neighbours heard the screaming, hopped on his ATV and came over to make sure all was well.

Lesson: Phod can't be off leash near the barn.

What did they do to you?

Trying to get a picture of me and Phod but he wouldn't stop kissing me!

One night I had a cup of water sitting on the table. I have lived with animals long enough to know that if I am going to leave water sitting around, it better be in plastic. Zaphod was walking by the coffee table and accidentally knocked it over with his tail. He then ran and hid like we were going to do something horrible to him. Broke my heart a little that my gentle giant would be scared of me.

I just cleaned it up and then called him over for love.

It makes me wonder what happened to him before he was rescued. Our poor sweet boy. Hopefully he will learn that these sort of things are ok in our house!