Funny Story

"I'm a dog, not a genius"

Today I was re-arranging some stuff and moved the dogs water bowl.  Usually when I move it I give them a little something fun in there- just to make sure everyone is attracted to the new place and no one is out looking for it later.  I used Ice Pups by Honest Kitchen and make it into a warm broth.  I made it pretty light and put it in the bowl.  Copley drank first (being chief food lover around here he always goes first) and it turns out I didn't put in enough liquid.  When I saw he was going to finish it I knew I didn't want to go through making a bunch more so I got water out of the tap and poured it in the bowl so there would be some left for the chihuahuas.

I guess using Copley logic I had "covered up" the tasty stuff so he stuck his entire head down in the bowl and licked the bottom of it.  A few times.  He was covered in water from snout to eyes- all because he didn't understand that the tasty stuff was being diluted, not covered.  I love how dogs brains work sometimes.

Follow Us By E-mail

Hey Everybody!

I finally figured out how to add a "follow by e-mail" option to the blog!  It is on the left hand side at the top of the page.  If you are a regular reader please follow us so you can be sure to catch all our blog posts!

Also enjoy this video of Nova relaxing and playing with me and Kerrigan (it's pretty cute).  There was a time when I never thought she would be relaxed and playing like this, now it is an everyday occurrence.

Squeaky Wheels Get the Grease

^Squeaky Wheels^

The chihuahuas get a lot of air time around here.  It is because I tend to write about the exciting, challenging, interesting things that happen in my life.  Now I LOVE Copley, but he is far from challenging or exciting.  For the large part he listens to things I tell him.  He never has pooped or peed in the house, he knows a few tricks and they are all cute, he can go for a hike, or sleep all day.  He walks well on a leash, no longer gulps his food, eats anything put in front of him, and now that we are past the lyme disease he has no health problems.  At 5 years old (or so) he is neither young or old, he has ok but not great hips and while he does like agility, it really knocks him out and we can't seem to get in the swing of enough classes for him to keep up but not too many to wipe him out.  

So Copley sleeps on the couch and snuggles with me at night while I write about the exploits of two exceptional chihuahuas.  Not only are they exceptional, but for opposite reasons, so it really keeps things interesting.  In one day I might be working on Nova not attacking guests who come to the door then taking Kerri to visit a library where she patiently allows ten children to pet her at one time.  I think you get the picture.

Copley is relegated to a few tasks he is particularly suited for on the blog-

 Trying out products that are too big for the chihuahuas

 Bragging about being named after a nostalgic part of his owners lives

 Testing treats that are too big for the chihuahuas

Sometimes (often) I ask myself why I am not writing about my favorite dog.  That's right, I said favorite, they are dogs not children, I can pick a favorite and they will never know.  Copley was our first dog and for all the reasons I stated above he is perfect*.  Literally the closest thing to the ideal family pet one could ask for, so he is my favorite.  The thing is Copley doesn't mind.  I think he liked it when we got Kerri because he wasn't the center of attention anymore.  Then I think he liked it when we got Nova because there were two chihuahuas to entertain each other and the humans so he REALLY could avoid being the center of anyone's attention.

A common remark I get from acquaintances is that Kerri is the BEST dog.  I agree with that.  But I also know what people really mean to say is that Kerri is so much better than the false idea in their mind of what most chihuahuas are.  When you expect a dog to never leave the house, bite your ankle then shiver in the corner it is amazing when you see that dog confidently climbing a mountain.  I get it.  It is just funny to me when the better behaved, better trained, more evenly tempered dog gets no credit for anything.  Except from people who have dog sat.  Funny... they all fall in love with Copley.

 You see Copley only wants a few thing in life

1. To sleep most of the time close, but not directly touching, other members of the family
2. To occasionally cuddle
3.  To spend time outside with everyone else looking at, but never actually going near (that would be scarey) wild animals such as ducks and squirrels
4. To get a meal every day, preferably of raw red meat
5. For me and Ben to return home every time we leave the house
6. To meet new people and spend time with guests that come over

That's it. Plus he is my buddy, always has been.  From the day I brought him home I have been in love and I think he loves me back.  We are buddies and that's that.

So what's the point of this post?  Copley is perfect* and I felt he was due for some attention.  Just don't tell him, he really does not want me bothering him.

*The word "perfect" is subjective in this case.

ARGH!!!

So it's been a while hasn't it?  Well my camera got stolen and on it was all the cool pictures of stuff I wanted to blog about.  Also I have been too busy to go out and get a new camera so blog posts have been lacking because I assume you readers would rather have posts with cute puppies in them than these text based monstrosities.  Well today I do have something to talk about that needs no pictures and I really want some input- so feel free to share with me your personal experiences.  It is about dogs carrying around toys.

I know dogs who carry toys around with them so that they will have them to play with.  For instance some dogs carry a toy into their crate at night.  I have a friend whose dogs each take a prized toy with them to the car when they are going for a ride.  More recently I have a foster dog named George who carrys things around to play with all the time.  If I go upstairs he will pick up a kong and bring it with him to chew.  He also has discovered "self fetch" where he throws the kong down the stairs and then catches it while it is bouncing around at the bottom.  Here the thing about it- my dogs don't do that.  If I go upstairs they just stand around up there looking bored.  Or they will go down to the toy box and play with something there.  Lets say I give them bully sticks- they just drop where I put the stick and chew there.  Is this strange?  I never thought about this before George was around and suddenly dog toys started appearing upstairs.  All of them were transported by George so he would have something to do up there.

Is George just really smart- smarter than Copley and Kerri?  Depends on how you define smart.  When it comes to complicated puzzles and situations Kerri certainly is the smartest dog in the house that way- by leaps and bounds.  George reminds me of a boxer (even though he is a pug mix)- goofy, lovable and fun.  He has learned sit/down/stay and mind manners quickly but I don't think he is one of those dogs who will be retrieving the "red triangle" from the pile of colored objects if you know what I mean.  That's kinda the best part of dogs though.  They are so different from us that they can really demonstrate how smarts can be measured in different ways.  "Don't judge a fish by its ability to run a marathon"- or something like that was said by someone famous.*  Using that logic Copley should be judged by his interpersonal skills with other dogs and ability to raise well rounded puppies.  Kerrigan should be judged by her problem solving skills and great athletic ability.  Finally I guess George should be judged on his ability to think into the future and carry toys to places where he wants them later so he will never be bored.

So back to the task at hand.  Dogs carrying toys around?  Yes/No?  Are Copley and Kerri crazy?  Is this normal?  Do you live in the Las Vegas area and want to adopt George????? Discuss.

*"Don't judge an Annie by her ability to remember famous quotes or who said them."

Bath Time!

Today we had bath time for everyone at our house!  It is not something that happens often because... I hate to brag... but my dogs don't smell.  I know, I know!  How is that possible?  I have my theories and it is not all me.

1. Homemade food- raw- pastured cattle and farmers market veggies.  Fewer toxins go in- fewer toxins seep out the skin.  That one's simple.  Also dogs on cheap kibble feel greasy (not sure why that is)- mine don't so that for sure helps because dirt sticks to grease.
2. No bugs.  We really don't have biting bugs of any sort in Las Vegas so my dogs are not ever iching/licking/biting.  That has to help with smell.
3. 0% humidity.  It is really dry here so everything smells better- even trash and dog poop.
4. Short hair and a shedding breed.  I find the stinkiest dogs are the long hair non shedding ones.  Copley and Kerri seem to have hair that causes dirt to just slide off.

With that said once in a while even the cleanest dog needs a bath.  These guys were todays victims.

George (the foster dog) got one because I like to either bathe fosters or if they hate baths at least spritz them with something so they are deodorized and looking good for adoption events.  I have to admit some fosters never get a bath because they are either just fixed or they get adopted before I have the chance but George had been here a few weeks and I figured we moved past the point where a bath would ruin my relationship with him.  Today was the day and actually he enjoyed it a little I think.  Hopefully his new good looks will get him adopted tomorrow!

Kerrigan has not had a bath in 6 months.  She was getting a little stinky.

Copley was doing ok in the stink department but on the advise of our holistic vet I am giving him a bath more often to help wash away the toxins he may be seeping out of his skin as he gets over this TBD issue.  I am skeptical about this but I see how it might help out a little so I am TRYING to give him more baths.  It helps that he is a cooperative bather.

I don't have any pictures during the bath (it is a bit of an electronics hazard with the shaking dogs and water an all) but I do have a great video of everyone drying off.  My dogs LOVE playing and rolling in the damp towels after a bath.  It also has the bonus of drying them off further so now after we all air dry a little in the heat outside I let them in to go crazy on the towels on the floor!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Sigh

Wally came to visit again!  We had a good time for 6 of the 8 hours, but the last two were a little rough.  Here are some photographs of the end of my evening.  I think they say it all.

  Click to enlarge for captions^  Rated PG-13

 Here is the 50 lb- 4 month old puppy on the other side of the divide

 We tried switching sides once

But doesn't he look so cute when he is sleeping!

Seriously though- Wally is a great puppy.  I would gladly watch him again, Copley was just getting a little annoyed with him and he has this thing about chasing Kerri.  Then Kerri wouldn't shut up if I wasn't holding her and Wally kept trying to leap into my lap to "play" with her and Copley became overwhelmed with the urge to hump things while Wally was around.  If Wally's parents are reading- your dog and mine were equally annoying- fear not.

I am going to go now and try to recover from this tornado.  Also I bought a bark corrector thing that emits a high pitched noise when the dogs bark.  I said I would never do such a thing but you say a lot of things before you get a chihuahua...

~Annie

A Weekend Visitor

We had a visitor this weekend and his name is Wally!  

 Wally is a 12 week old mastiff puppy who is owned by friends of ours.  His owners had big plans this past weekend and needed to be away from the house for 14 hours both days.  Since he was a 12 week old puppy somebody needed to watch him and I volunteered.  Every time I see a socialization opportunity for my puppy I always jump on it and this seemed perfect.

Copley had a good time for 90% of the day.  Being 12 weeks old Wally is a little short on the dog social skills and constantly jumped right in Copley's face.  Luckily Copley is great with puppies and even though this puppy was  10lbs bigger than him, he still treated him with the patience he usually has for puppies that age.  They played and had a good time and Copley appropriately corrected Wally for his rude behavior when needed.  Wally learned a lot and by the end of the day was a little less in your face with Copley.  For the last three hours he was here Copley hid in his crate with his back to the door.

Kerrigan had a good time that evolved into an interesting time.  She initiated play with Wally a LOT.  They played one of Kerri's favorite games "bite the face" where they both bit each others face.  I was right there and extremely surprised that Wally was so gentle with her.  That was the good time.  The interesting time was when she wanted to play chase with him.  She would initiate a game of chase- play bowing and howling and just begging him to play.  Then when he actually did chase her she got scared of this big clumsy dog coming after her (I can't blame her for that) and would jump up on the couch to hide with her tail tucked between her legs.  I can understand this once- but she did it over and over again.  She was so excited to play that she forgot what the consequences were.  I did my best to stop her and encourage games that didn't involve running.  Overall things went pretty smooth.

I had a great idea to take a picture of them all sitting in a line next to each other for size comparison but it was a little tough.  The picture I got in the end was not half bad-

 

Kerri- 8 months 5.8lbs, Wally 3 months 35lbs and Copley 3 years 21lbs

They are not looking at the camera, Kerri isn't sitting and Copley is plopped down with his legs like all over the place but I am proud.  It is not blurry, they are all in it and you can see their faces.  Believe me it is an accomplishment.

Final verdict on the weekend: Wally is a very well behaved puppy and my dogs had a good time playing with a new friend.  Most importantly I had a great time hanging out with an adorable wrinkly 12 week old puppy for two days. 

New Toys! And Beds!

Lets start with the beds.  Our crate pad situation was getting a little sad around here.  Kerrigan still had the cheap crate pad we bought in a pinch the day we adopted her.  Copley had a crate pad made out of recycled bottles but it was very lumpy and didn't look so great.  With Copley still on his slow return to normal activity after a possible knee injury he spends a lot more time than he used to.  Getting him a memory foam mattress seemed like a good idea.  It would support his joints and hopefully hold heat a little better in the winter.  Unhappy that I couldn't get anything locally that I liked I turned to online shopping.  Copley got a new crate, orthopedic crate bed and crate cover.  Kerrigan is staying in her airline type crate for the time being but she got a nicer crate bed.

As you can see Kerri likes Copley's crate too :)  Overall I am happy with what I got but I still wish someone would make a high quality crate pad/bumper/cover set.  This stuff is good for what I need but I would gladly pay more for slightly higher quality stuff that was not made in China.  Maybe I need to start a business here...

On the toy front I got this thing called a Tug a Jug.  Copley had one before but got bored with it before he ever got anything out of it!  Then one day it broke (human error) and I just never replaced it.  Well I saw them on sale so I got one for Copley and one for Kerri thinking Kerri would love it.  In a strange turn of events Copley loves it now and has figured it out a lot better.  He can get every last treat out of it this time.  No idea what changed but I am glad I gave it a second try.  The jug is a good toy for Kerri too, but being a little less food motivated she tends to get out a few treats then go look out the window... then get another treat... then sniff around... then discover Copley got all her treats while she was distracted.

[Insert cute videos here]  Seriously though blogger hates me.  I have been trying for days to get these videos to upload.  You will have to settle for pictures until I have time to make a youtube account and hope they upload easier there.  The videos are really cute and show how Copley has mastered the perfect technique for removing treats from the tug a jug.

Hermit Crabs!

 

I believe the key to proper socialization of a puppy might just be to involve them in every possible crazy activity your family does.  Luckily around here we are never too short on crazy activities.

This week it was time for our annual deep clean of our hermit crab tank.  If you are thinking of those hermit crab habitats you buy at the mall or the pet store with a little plastic palm tree and some sand then you should think again!  Sadly most hermit crabs sold in stores are destined to a slow and painful death at the uninformed hands of their new owners.  Even the major chains (aka petco and petsmart) send people away with horrible information about their crabs.  Since I am not here to lecture you about proper hermit crab care I will just leave you with a few facts and urge anyone currently owning or looking to own a hermit crab to visit The Hermit Crab Association for more information.

Crab Facts-

• All land hermit crabs in captivity are wild caught.  Scientist and hobbyist alike have been spending decades attempting to breed crabs in captivity but all attempts have been unsuccessful.  In fact we do not even know what happens to baby hermit crabs during the aquatic stage of their life.  That crab in the mall may have traveled the oceans far and wide before it's little adult stage body washed up on shore and it found it's first shell.
• Land hermit crabs can live for 20+ years if cared for properly.
• Crabs need substrate at least twice as deep as their shell is tall so they can properly molt.
• The calcium sand sold as "crab sand" in the pet store kills crabs.
• Land hermit crabs need to be able to fully submerge in water from time to time and require both fresh and salt water to survive long term.

 This is "Big Red" she is one of my favorite crabs and is our biggest by far.  The pictures don't really show size, but she is BIG!  So big that when Kerrigan was just 14 weeks old I found her sitting on the stairs whining and shaking.  She had seen Big Red climbing around in the tank and did not like what she saw!  In reality Big Red probably is older than Kerrigan's great grandmother but being a crab she lacks the size and central nervous system to pose any real threat to even the smallest puppy.  I walked over to the tank and said "Don't worry Kerrigan, that's just Big Red, she can't get you."  Then went back to watching TV.  Kerri never whined at the crabs again because I showed no fear myself and just ignored her issue.  Through my example she learned not to be scared of hermit crabs and I learned that with a puppy everything is a teachable moment.

I won't bore you with all the details of the deep clean, but it is a process.  We spent nearly 7 hours carefully removing hermit crabs and carefully chasing fiddler crabs back to the 30 gallon brackish water tank on one end of the greater hermit crab tank (this is a bit of a "project" tank, don't think you need a fish tank to keep these crabs happy, but they do appreciate their occasional swims over there I think).  In the end I everything ended up looking pretty nice.

 Did I mention the tank is massive?  Kerrigan did a good job of staying out of trash bags, redirecting to appropriate toys and not pestering us while we were cleaning.  Copley spent most of the last several hours staring at me making this perticular face.

I think he is trying really, really, really, really hard to figure out what we are doing and/or thinking.  The idea of keeping pet hermit crabs seems to be totally beyond his comprehension.

Before you see this last picture I must stress that all the animals had been removed from the tank and this is just a pile of dirty sand and coconut fiber.  Also it was nearly 2am and I had been carefully scraping sand out of a tank with a soup spoon for many hours.  Both of us may have lost our minds by this point.

In conclusion I hope you take these two points away from this very long post.  1. Land Hermit crabs are really cool.  2. Introduce you puppy to as many new thing as possible- even if those thing are shells and sand and 5 gallon buckets.

Less Dogs More Sheep- Zoo Edition

I spent two years living out here hoping that I would catch a glimpse of a bighorn sheep.  Finally a month ago I started seeing lots of them everywhere.  This weekend was no exception.

Sheep hanging out in the zoo

Sheep hanging out in the carousel

This weekend we took a dog-free trip to visit family and stopped by The Living Desert in Palm Desert, CA.  The living desert is a great place to visit and has a little something for everyone.  In fact the first time I went there was before I married Ben (Mr.DogInTheDesert).  He has been coming to the Living Desert for a long time so he took me directly to the things that interested him most- the cacti gardens.  I actually thought it was a desert botanical garden with lots of cacti, some birds and hiking trails.  It was not until this trip that I learned it was actually a zoo that also happened to have lots of cacti and hiking trails.

I thought that last paragraph would paint a picture of how quirky my husband is but upon further reading it mostly just shows how oblivious I am to my surroundings.

Moving on...

While the dogs were hanging out in boarding back here we got to spend some times with their wild cousins.  I hoped to get lots of good shots and talk a bit about the similarities and differences between my dogs and wild dog-type animals.  Unfortunately by the time we got to the wolves and foxes it was the hot, sunny middle of the day.  Until I visit another zoo in Miami next month you will have to settle on pictures of dogs doing what dogs do best at high noon.  Sitting in the shade panting.

African Wild Dog

Mexican Wolf

All coyotes and foxes were hiding :(.

I was so glad to see OUR dogs when we got back to Vegas.  Copley likewise was happy to see us!  He showed his appreciation for our love by immediately running from the door to a patch of sun and staying there without even looking at us.  What a love bug we have.

"I wagged my tail when you picked me up from boarding, what more do you want?"

Kerrigan on the other hand was a little more excited to be home.

How did this picture even happen?

Bonus shot of me petting a goat:

Happy weekend everybody!

A Furry Friend Visits

We had a visitor today and I got lots of cute pics of the doggies playing.

Copley ready to get in on the action

Most pictures looked like this

Adorable

Watch out for visitors pouncing from above

 

 

 

It is always important to thoroughly sniff visitors behinds

Why wont my dogs look at the camera all cute?  Tired of having their pictures taken perhaps?

AHHH

Running through the house

Visitors are tiring, Kerri stops for a drink

Copley questions why I keep bringing dogs to the house who disrupt his sleep schedule

I will leave you with one marginally cute video.  They were a little tuckered out by this point.

One Dogs Bed is another Dogs... Bed

Continuining on with the theme of this post I have taken this picture. While Kerri is sleeping on Copley's toys, Copley has taken up residence in Kerrigans way too small bed.