Dog Sitting!

The big guys hanging out in the backyard

A few days ago we had a few friends stay with us for two nights.  I just love having dogs in and out of the house, seeing how mine interact with their friends and watching dog-dog interactions play out is fascinating and often hilarious.  We had a pretty good weekend other than me thinking I could take the three biggest dogs for a walk by myself (my shoulder suffered there) and a tiny bit of grumpiness from Copley.

Our visitors were Mosby (who you have met before) and his new little brother Harvey!  Mosby is a something- I believe the shelter said he was a GSD/bloodhound/pit... or something strange like that.  Who knows but he is sure adorable.  His new little brother is from the same high kill shelter and Mosby (and Kerri) and he is just ADORABLE.  Here is a picture of him the day after he was adopted and a picture of him in our backyard while we were watching him 4 months later.

Since puppies growing up NEVER gets old here is another adorable set of comparision photos.

We had a great time hanging out with the big guys!  Copley had a little bit of impatience but we worked through it.  See Copley is really a stickler for good behavior when it comes to puppies.  That is actually pretty good for most puppies and I tend to let Copley deal with them as long as he is being appropriate.  For some reason his fuze is a little bit shorter with Harvey then usual so I do watch him closely.  Harvey is still a baby in so many ways, and while he is super well behaved and a very, very good dog he has a habit of walking up to dogs and pawing them in the face.  This is not something that Copley cares for and I did let him correct him for that and actually by the end of the weekend it was pretty cute.  We saw a lot of behavior like this.

That would be Copley pretending that Harvey does not exist while Harvey slowly moves closer and closer to Copley without actually engaging him.  Harvey got to the point where he was actually touching Copley and Copley just sighed and went back to sleep so that was a win.  We then moved onto the more active begging on the part of Harvey.

That picture is more of the whining and licking and active please play with me.  To my surprise Copley did finally play with both the big guys so I guess Harvey won him over.  He seemed to discover that as long as he kept his paws out of Copley's face they could have a good time together.  It is really just fun to see two stable, well behaved dogs interact like dogs, deal with their minor issues and then turn into friends.  All closely supervised of course.

Speaking of dogs dealing with each other take a look at these two pictures of my brave little Nova.  She was incredibly well behaved and much more relaxed than when we have had dog guests before.  I don't force her to interact with anyone but she does a good job of just living near them.  This would not have been possible even 6 months ago.

Finally I leave you with our dinner picture.  It is just so easy (compared to fostering at least) to dog sit two raw fed, well behaved dogs.  To my pleasant suprise everyone sat very patiently waiting for their dinner.  Thanks to 5 dogs all obedience trained dinner was not a zoo, it was a calm and relatively easy event.

 I have to say though, I am glad my dogs are so small that I can pick them all up at the same time, put them all in one medium crate in the car and feed them a total of 1lb of food a day.  Just so many advantages of having chihuahuas, I think I'll be sticking to my little guys!

Big Bear Trip Part 2

If you have been around these parts for a while you know we LOVE to visit Big Bear Lake California!  Check out one of our previous trips here.  This time we brought some friends and had a BLAST.  The cabins we stay at are very dog friendly.  The owner has two dogs and unlike a lot of other "dog friendly" places- you don't feel strange hanging out with your dog here.  We had a boxer a few doors down, two border collies next door and the owner was always happy to see our little guys.  If you are ever staying in Big Bear I could not recommend Cabins for Less any more.  They are the best place to stay- you certainly should check them out.

The other great thing about Cabins 4 Less is that they have super cheap kayaks if you are staying there!  We took Copley and Kerri out on two and it was a lot of fun.  We started with both dogs in our Kayak, but as you can see Copley soon decided we were boring and spent most of his trip on the other Kayak.  You can see him sitting with our friend Paul looking very majestic.  Kerri- in her typical undecisive manner wanted to get over on the other kayak- then when we got too far away from each other she wanted back.  Then she wanted back to the kayak Copley was on.  Since we try not to let our dogs be totally insane around guests we made her stay on our kayak and calm down.  Eventually she got the picture.

One thing that surprised me is that a lot of people commented on the dogs life vests.  In fact more than one person said "what, dog's can't swim these days?"  It was a little annoying to hear over and over that we were crazy to put life jackets on our dogs.  The thing is our dogs can swim.  Without a life vest they can actually swim pretty well.  But these are tiny dogs in a huge lake.  Even if they were great swimmers- if there was an emergency would they really be able to find where shore is and make it all the way there?  Also Kerri is literally the color of lake water- so without a life vets how would I find her if we were separated.  Maybe the passer byes were right- and I am some crazy dog lady.  I tend to think that life vests are a good idea for pets, children, and any other person who can't make it to shore immediately if we were to be dumped in the water.  Maybe that makes me nuts- you decide.

Now I know I am nuts because I always get the dogs an ice cream at the gas station on the way there.  It is our typical road trip tradition.  This time they got to lick the vanilla center out of a ice cream sandwich.  Nova enjoyed some too but preferred to stay in her carrier at the busy gas station.

I admit this is not very healthy- and my dogs would not get ice cream every day.  Also yes it is possible Copley ate a chip or two- but two milk chocolate chips are not going to kill him.  Seeing as my dogs are not overweight and the ingredients in human grade vanilla ice cream are way better for you than a lot of the sugar and beef byproduct filled commercial dog treats out there I don't feel bad about giving it to them once a year at a hot gas station.

Here is the closest thing I got to both dogs looking at the camera this weekend.  What can I say, there were a lot of chipmunks.  Those bandanas are soaked in cedarwood oil for pest control.  We don't have fleas, ticks, mosquitoes or really much of anything in the Vegas Valley so our dogs are not on any sort of topical preventative.  Up in Big Bear this time of year there are not really many bugs either but there are a few so our holistic vet suggested using something like this.  When we go to actual bug infested areas I am curious to see if it does anything.  There is so little of a bug problem in Big Bear I can't really tell of cedarwood scented bandanas are at all effective.

To give you an idea of the landscape check out this shot from my first chair lift ride ever (girls from Miami don't ski- so I never had a real opportunity to ride one before).  The dogs of course could not ride the chair lift but that was OK.  They were pooped by the end of the weekend.  Lots of new smells and animals and people to check out.  Plus we did a lot of walking down to the fishing hole and looking at ducks.  It was mostly just nice to get out of the heat.  Now that we are back in this heatwave Vegas is looking at 116 degree highs for the next five days.  The poor guys won't be leaving the house until at least the 5th!

Also one more thing- I am the featured blogger of the week on Pet Blogs United!  Check out the post and all the other bloggers on PBU by clicking on the button-

Nova Update

Hey everybody!  This is going to be a bit of a dry post.  I really want to keep track of Nova's progress, and what we are doing.  I guess I could keep it in a journal but perhaps it will be helpful to others rehabbing a scared/under-socialized dog.  Keep in mind I have NO IDEA what I am doing here.  I am not a professional and when I have trouble I either call one or read a book on it.  Unfortunately there are not many books on this.  In fact most seem to say this in one way or another; "before you decide to adopt a scared or under socialized dog think very hard about it.  It is a bad idea.  They will probably bite you.  Don't do it.  You doing it?  Yeah, your an idiot.  But hey- if it works out they will love you forever."  So that's that.

Lets get to Nova day by day.

1. Friday December 7th:  This was Nova's first day.  Her rear legs were still wrapped up and she was very scared.  She wouldn't leave the crate but I gave her a pee pad and water in there.  I knew she wouldn't eat with me around, so when I left for an hour I put in 4oz of cooked chicken coated in a pro-biotic digestive enhancer and some calcium supplement made for home-made diets.  When we came home she had peed all over herself so we took her out and cleaned the crate up a little bit.  While I was doing that I put her on the couch next to me and she did cuddle up to me and the other dogs a little bit.  I think she was just scared and cold because that was the most actual contact she has tolerated since being here.  Our potty training plan had not developed at this point but she did make a run for it out of the crate and huddled next to it.  She peed there- and while that seems like a bad thing I think it was a good sign.  Even with the pad in her giant crate she really, really does not want to use the bathroom in her living area meaning she will be easy to housetrain!  Win one for us.
2. Saturday December 8th: A lot of the same as Friday, she stayed in the crate the whole day and today I gave her 5oz of cooked chicken with supplements (weighed before I cooked it).  She ate it while I hid in the garage.  Today I also picked up some Wellness 95% meat cans and have been giving her a Kong stuffed with the 95% Chicken every time I leave.  She did get up and sniff Kerrigan and was showing a little life.  Unfortunately I had to grab Nova and take her to the vet for a bandage change on her back feet.  I was able to corner her in the crate and grab her but it was a traumatic event for her.
3. Sunday December 9th.  Sunday was a good day.  Nova was still hesitant with me around but I guess while I was out for a few hours she ran around and played with Kerrigan!  She also started taking treats from Ben and particularly likes these crunchy Zukes treats I got.  While I was out I got a thundershirt- that is a whole post of its own.  But the good news is that it worked.  I put it on her and she came out and was hanging on the couch near me.  Today I only seared her 5oz of chicken a little bit, it was her first mostly raw meal and she ate it with me in the other room.\
4. Monday December 10th: Today I had to catch Nova again to get her to the vets for a bandage change and to get her stitches out.  She was pretty shy but was ok when I grabbed her.  Unfortunately she ignored me for the rest of the day.  She did grab a moose antler and drag it out of the toy box to chew on.  That was exciting because she was brave enough to do it and also because Copley let her chew on it without getting grumpy.  He really seems to feel for Nova and is more tolerant of her than he usually is, almost treating her like a puppy.  Today was also when we decided we were keeping her for sure.  She also ate 5oz of raw, bone-in Cornish game hen, her first official raw meal!  She chomped it like a champ.  I think Nova is used to eating whatever she can get her paws on without a whole lot of opportunity to be picky.
5. Tuesday December 11th:  This was a lot of the same but we did have one breakthrough!  Some friends from out of town came over and Nova was very curious about them.  She has taken to sitting on the couch next to us as long as we don't touch her but she was accepting being pet on the butt very well.  Ben took the opportunity to gently scoop her up and she snuggled into his arms for a bit.  Eventually something spooked her and she ran away but I think it was the first time she actually enjoyed the warm and petting that came with being held.  I even have photographic evidence!  It is only cell phone pictures because I turn off the sound and flash so she isnt startled.

 There is the Nova update, I am only behind by 11 days now...

Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness

 

Wee Thump is one of our favorite places to hang out.  First of all it has the biggest and coolest Joshua Trees in the world.  Second the trails are flat and fun to walk and there is rarely anyone there. 

My father in law came to visit and we all went for a little hike.  Southern Nevada is getting so beautiful right now.  The weather is PERFECT and we can't get enough of being outside.  Too bad I work in an industry that locks me in windowless rooms for the holiday season.*  I won't bore you with too much description because I am too busy to write anything right now, but lets pretend the pictures are so great they speak for themselves.  You should just be happy I managed to hobble together 10 minutes to write a blog post.

One final thought.  Wee Thump has a lot of cactus bits and spines on the ground.  I recommend paw protection if you have it.  Copley says "always be prepared"!

Food?

We love the gulpy!

*Don't worry- I don't work retail, so it is likely I will survive black Friday.  Also I work for myself so I have no one to complain to but me and my own calendar.

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. 

I'm a PUPPY!!!!

Kerrigan has been doing so well lately that sometimes I forget she is still a puppy.  She has not peed in the house in several months, her teething seems to have subsided and her attention span grows longer by the day.  Sometimes I am reminded that she is still a puppy and it is going to show from time to time.  This past Thursday was one of those times.

It all started when our dryer broke.  Then the next morning a sprinkler pipe broke flooding the neighborhood and to top it all off that morning our dishwasher wouldn't drain.  While Ben was trying to deal with one of the water issues he turned the shutoff valve for the house and it broke!  I think you get the picture- the house was falling apart.

Repair people were here from when we got back from obedience class at 12:30 to about 5pm.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day so I spent a lot of the morning hanging out with the dogs outside.  Kerrigan whined and whined and whined.  She got pissed when I went inside to do anything, she got pissed when I stood on the other side of the fence to talk to a neighbor, she was intermittently pissed because she could not go inside and play with the repair people or lick the dirty dish water off the kitchen floor.  She calmed down (mostly) when I told her to be quiet but it was one of those days when you know your dog is just reinforcing the stereotype of a yappy chihuahua.  On the other hand I am happy to report Copley thoroughly enjoyed his time outside.  He was able to partake in many of his favorite activities- laying in the dirt sunning himself, chewing a bully stick and ridding the yard of stray pigeons.

Finally it was getting a little chilly so I put the dogs upstairs on the other side of a doggy gate that usually is meant to keep them downstairs.  With so many people coming and going it would have been bad news for them to be "in on the action."  This set up resulted in less barking but as you can see from the picture below it was a lot more of the same.  Copley resting and keeping an eye on things while Kerri (aka The Blur) just spazzed out.

The thing is that overall she did great.  She quieted when asked, was able to redirect her attention to me and remained polite to Copley and our company throughout.  She has just been doing so great lately that it is a bit of a shock when she acts like the 7 month old puppy that she is.  For now I am trying to just be grateful that she is doing so good and just block out that whole five hours where she didn't even so much as sit down for a second.

Grandma and Grandpa Visit #2- Less dogs more sheep

After we got back from Joshua Tree we had a lot of other adventured while my parents were here.  One of the most exciting things was this-

That is a fuzzy picture of the 30 or so bighorn sheep that ran across the road, then we watched run through a valley and over a ridge.  When I stopped the car we were probably only 20 or so yards from them, but it took some time to pull out the camera.  In all of my time living and traveling in the southwest I have seen a total of one bighorn sheep, a long long way away, running.  At least we are pretty sure it was a bighorn sheep.  So this was a real treat.  Luckily for Copley (who has a less than rational fear of hoofed animals) the dog's didn't bother looking out the window to see them.

Then we went on a walk where Kerrigan whined, pulled, barked and even growled at a stranger.  This then incited Copley to do the same and his uncharacteristic pulling resulted in me almost falling and then yelling at them.  Since dogs don't understand yelling Kerri carried on but I think Copley got the drift and straightened up.  Or at least he knew I was upset and I became the center of his attention.  The walk back was much more pleasant if only because Copley was right by my side and I decided I would just let the 5lb Chihuahua pull all she wanted without trying to correct it.  She was in a harness, I was trying to enjoy myself, I don't think much harm was done.

Kerrigan is so good 90% of the time, but sometimes she just reminds me that she is still just a puppy and sometimes she will act like it.

Here is a picture of us on the walk (At Valley of Fire State Park- Don't think I mentioned that yet)-

Overall though this post should probably not be about the dogs.  The landscape was beautiful and we saw lots and lots of petroglyphs.  All of these pictures are taken by my Mom and she got some good shots while I was dog wrangling.  This canyon is a really amazing place.

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Visit!

This week Copley and Kerri's "Grandparents" came to visit!  We took a trip to Joshua Tree National Park in an RV.  Overall Kerri loved the drive, getting to cuddle with us the whole way out, but was freezing cold when we got there.  Copley huddled under the kitchen table in the RV looking just miserable for the whole ride but had a great time when we got there.  It would have been nice if they both had a good time the whole trip, but that was not to be.

This is Kerrigan wearing both a sweater and a jacket and still looking cold.  I am glad we don't live in a place that really gets winters.

Copley here is demonstrating his newest thing.  Since getting the puppy he has started getting up on tables to sniff food and other such things.  It is a little annoying but at least he gets off when I say "off".  At home I have him just about broken of the habit but on this trip he was in full "take advantage of these new people who don't know the rules" mode.

It did warm up eventually.  Here is Copley enjoying some well deserved time soaking up the sun.  Joshua Tree National Park is beautiful during the day this time of the year.  We were lucky it was the middle of the week because all of the camp sites were reserved for the weekend.

Copley and my Mom climbed up this big rock.

 This is a Joshua Tree.  We were at Joshua Tree National Park after all.

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.