Here is some Friday morning entertainment for you… I recommend the first few seconds. Good comedic relief for the ridiculousness that is happening around here…
Just one one-eyed wonder, thank you very much
Last Saturday was a bit of a nutty day. We took the pups to the dog park & on a jaunt through the woods twice, and neither got much naptime. By the time our friends came over for dinner, Fae’s eyes were a little red, her head was hanging low, and she was insisting on staying awake for the entire visit, dammit.
We commented a couple of times about how tired she looked, but didn’t think much of it beyond that. And then on Sunday, her right eye was still red… and her left eye was completely swollen shut.
Luckily, we have a vet who is open on Sundays, and even more luckily (for all of our stress levels), Fae loves the vet. I would say we’re lucky (and we are!) but I think it’s also karma for all the times we’ve had to take a miserable Daphne to the vet. Fae did not love the treatment or having her eyes stained, but she still loved the vet and all the staff after they did the treatment. Relief.
So the vet said she has conjunctivitis, and “it’s probably fine, but we’ll just do a quick stain to make sure the cornea is okay.” As the stain appeared, we saw that it really wasn’t fine: she has an ulcer covering about a third of her cornea. Ouch. And thus, conehead was born:
It sounds like, as long as we are good about giving her the eye meds four times a day (!), she will be fine; if we’re not, she could lose the eye. As one friend put it, we already have enough one-eyed animals in this house! As cute as a one-eyed pittie is, we would prefer for her to have all her eyes.
the reigning one-eyed wonder
In the meantime, conehead means no more dog park visits. This means mild stress for all involved. Not only is the puppy not getting her energy out with other dogs every day, I am not going for a daily hike! Sad! Stressful! Or at least not stress-relieving. I love the idea of going running with her, but frankly, I am not a runner, and as one of the shelter folks put it, “Someone with two legs attached to a four legged dog is never going to tire that dog out.” While I think there are some exceptions to this, it’s true that no matter how fast I run, she could be running faster. Solution?
Okay, so this is a fancy scooter from the shelter, and I can’t take it home with me. BUT I do know how to teach a dog to run with a scooter, so I bought the only Razor scooter left at a local toystore, and this adventure was born:
We have now been out scooting twice: the first day for just 10 minutes, the second for around 25. Fae wears a harness and trots/runs alongside me. I was surprised at how much of a workout this is for me! Maybe that means I’m crazy out of shape, or maybe trying to tire out an 8.5 month old pit bull puppy is just exhausting whether you’re on foot or on wheels or on a strange combination of the two. Either way, when we get home, she goes right to sleep. Success!
I’m hoping that this will be a first step to teaching her to run alongside my bicycle safely, and that someday we’ll do all kinds of fun dog sports together! I can’t do this stuff with Daphne because she is so reactive; the only concern with Fae is that she wants to go meet everyone we pass. Daph would want to go eat everyone we pass.
In the meantime, I am also doing a ton of training with Fae. Keep those brain cells working!
Do you have any creative methods of wearing out a dog? Has anyone successfully taught their pup to run alongside a bicycle?
Filed under Menagerie
Marriage: You’re Not on Your Own Anymore (or Why You Should Not Get a Puppy)
Whew. I have a confession to make. You guys? My puppy is not always a good dog. I know, I post about how cute she is and laugh a little about the beds she destroys, but to be perfectly honest, I have glossed over much of the chaos that has been caused by adding a puppy to our family. I am coming clean today because – because! excitement! joy! hope! – things are getting better. I can finally admit to it all.
When we first got Faegan (whose name may or may not be changed soon), she really was perfect. I wrote this email to the shelter:
Faegan’s doing *awesome* in her crate. We had an hour long playtime when we got home to ensure that she would pass out in it, and she did! She and Daphne are best friends already, and she’s doing a great job going out on leash. One accident so far, but it was overnight: 6 hours is officially too long to hold it, so we’ll work from there. We are so happy with her!
Cue laughter. How long did we really believe all of that would last?
she's only good when she's not awake*
The worst things she does (ranked so because of how much general stress they cause) are: destroy stuff; scream in her crate; pull on the leash; and try to eat our cats.
You guys? Puppies are really, really hard. None of this is strange dog stuff; not one of those things should make anyone go, “Wow, I had no idea that puppies did that!” Puppies do those things. Dogs do those things. As much as these animals are our family, they are not human, and it’s not fair to expect them to act like humans. That said, SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP YOU STUPID PUPPY.
I am coming clean today because finally, I have a plan. It seems that the puppy’s worst offense is wanting to eat the cats. This is a pretty bad offense. It’s not really a “Hey, what are those fun toys?” but more of a “I WANT TO KILL THAT THING LET ME GET IT PLEASE.” If she hears the cats, she screams. If she hears the cats and screams and is in her crate and we don’t let her out, she destroys everything she can get to in her crate. Basically, all of the problems we experience stem from her attempts at interacting with the cats. Charming, I’m sure.
notice the fluff from her bed ON TOP OF HER CRATE.
For the past couple of weeks, I have been searching desperately for information on how to teach a dog to be better around cats. I don’t need information on “introductions” – trust me, they have been introduced. I need to work on resetting the whole situation… and today I came up with a plan. Step one is complete, and it’s going well so far. I’m pretty sure the details will bore you, but if it goes well, I will write it up and put it on the internet so that other people who are crazy enough to talk their awesome wives into letting them get a new puppy can keep their marriage intact.
So, what have you guys been up to lately? Have I convinced you that you do not want a puppy? Please go adopt a five year old dog from your local shelter, stat.
the good dog (who turns 5 this year!)
*this is only a slight exaggeration
**Note: I knew what I was getting into, but I don’t think I knew how much stress this would cause for the other human & animals I live with. Marriage: you’re not on your own anymore.
Filed under Marriage/Wedding/Engagement, Menagerie
All smiles
Well, folks, today the chaos begins! After the APW reading last night (!) a bunch of us went out for drinks and talking and we all stayed up way past our bedtimes. More than three people said to me, “Aw, we’re old. It’s totally past our bedtime.” When do we accept that if we’re all saying it, we’re all old, and we can just be sad that we’re not in our pajamas without mentioning our ages at all? Maybe I should admit that it was around 9pm that this refrain was going around.
Anyway, what better day to start the chaos of a “full time” (unpaid) job than the morning after a night of revelry with sane, practical folk? No better way, my friends. No better way. It may be chaotic, but that’s how I like it. I think Daphne’s face here is a pretty accurate representation of how I am feeling.
So here we go! Have a wonderful day, I will be off playing with dogs and yelling at rowers. Happy Thursday!
Filed under Job
Something to have in writing so I can’t deny it later
In our amazing house, we have an amazing fenced in yard so that we can let our dogs out while we are doing other things. Every morning, I let them run around in the yard while I make my tea and I call them back in when I’m ready to drink my tea. This morning I had a surprisingly pleasant realization: my dogs are well-behaved.
Okay, I know they should be well-behaved; they are, after all, the dogs of a dog trainer who trains for fun. But they are also each uniquely, ahem, challenged. I believe that Daph’s challenges stem from 1. her lack of socialization as a puppy, and 2. being really smart; and Faegan’s challenges stem from 1. still being a puppy, and 2. being kind of dumb.
smart puppy asking nicely
Most mornings, I open the door and yell, “Dogs!” Usually, Faegan comes running in, full speed, and often slips/trips/slams into something because omg something superawesome must be happening inside! This is her lack of brain at work. In the meantime, Daphne is doing the opposite and actually using her brain: she maybe looks at me, considers the presence or lack of treats in my hand, and decides whether or not it is worth her precious time to saunter over to me.
But today? I called them, and they both happily came right in. Not slowly, not fast enough to hurt themselves or anyone else; just right, quickly but safely. And then? Then they sat down in front of me and waited politely for their treats. And then they practiced sitting, lying down, “crawling,” and “asking nicely,” and they nailed every single one. Adorable. Faegan even took her treats politely and without biting my hand off – victory!
does this face look smart to you?
And now they’re in their crates with no chance to get into trouble, so hooray! I have well-behaved dogs at least for the morning.*
*It is important to record that this actually happens, especially when with a puppy, you are alternately yelling, “OMG this puppy is THE BEST,” and “Shit, puppies are THE WORST.” Let me tell you, my wife is dissatisfied with our general living situation when I am the one complaining that we have too many dogs.
Filed under Menagerie
