The Scene of the Crime, Revisited

Last weekend, Emme got herself in trouble at the lake house for jumping up on my chair and licking the jelly off my bagel. This weekend she revisited the scene of the crime. As we were eating breakfast, Ken got up from the table. No sooner did he leave than Emme jumped up onto his chair. She never touched his bagel. She looked out the window, looked across the table at me, and then sat still waiting for Ken to return. Maybe she did understand that the bagel was human food and she was not to help herself. Maybe.

Chunky Monkey - An Indelicate Topic

Rudy has had some health problems since the beginning of summer and one of his problems has been constant diarrhea. For many weeks we have had more conversations about Rudy's elimination than we ever had with two children of our own. He has suffered from very loose stools and over the last few months has been treated with Immodium, a diet of only rice and tuna, a prescription anti-diarrhea medicine, and two different kinds of prescription dog food to try to correct the problem. We are finally making progress. As Ken and I report back to one another, we have described Rudy's movements as a continuum of water, mustard, baby poop, pudding, loose, almost regular and finally "Chunky Monkey." We are so glad to see most of his stools now in the Chunky Monkey category. It is a giant step toward Rudy's return to good health.

Under

Emme loves to be under things: her pillow at night, the cabinet, the love seat. This morning she was trying to get under the throw pillow on the couch and only succeeded in pushing it to the floor. So I got a dog quilt and threw it over her. She laid there quietly under the quilt for many minutes. It was warm and dark and "under." After a while, she crawled out from under and laid on top of the quilt to chew her bone.

The Enforcer

We use a plant mister to deter bad dog behavior. Both dogs hate it. If Emme and Rudy are misbehaving, we get out the plant mister, AKA "The Enforcer," and spray the dogs while saying "No," or "Quiet," or "Down." It only takes a spray or two and the behavior stops immediately. Often we don't even need to spray the mister. Just reaching for the bottle is enough to quickly change behavior.

Lately, we have been going crazy with the dogs acting wild when someone comes to the door. They bark and jump and act like they have never heard the commands "Quiet," "Sit," or "Down." So we decided to use the plant mister. I went to the store and bought additional plant misters so we could have one by each door. Ken hung the mister on the door knob with a rubber band. Does it work? Who knows. We haven't had a visitor since we bought the new plant mister. But we are ready for the next time the door bell rings.

More Alike than Different

In some ways Emme and Rudy are very different. Rudy weighs 80 pounds; Emme weighs 10. Rudy is dark brown; Emme is white. Rudy is six years old; Emme is one. Rudy can be more aloof; Emme is a cuddle waiting to happen. Rudy knows how to play fetch; Emme has her own version of the game. Rudy loves to eat (when he is well); Emme is an indifferent eater. Rudy follows Ken like a shadow; Emme spends most of her time with me. Rudy goes downstairs to be "shop dog" with Ken; Emme has never been in the basement.

But many times, we catch them both doing the same things. They both love to ride in the car and as soon as the word "Ride" is uttered, they both go wild. They both love peanut butter and watch Ken like a hawk if he goes to the kitchen (he is the one who fills the Kongs with peanut butter). They both know the word "Crate" and each dashes to his/her own crate in the family room and waits semi-patiently for a biscuit reward. They both know the word "Bed" and get up immediately as we prepare to go upstairs. And often they lie on the rug resting at the same time. Often they are near one another in exactly the same posture. Sometimes they are more alike than different.

The ADHD Game

Some mornings, Ken plays a game with Emme that could be called the "Attention Deficient/Hyperactivity Disorder" game. And Emme loves it. Ken picks up a stuffie, says, "I'm Big Momma Gorilla" and tosses it in the air. Emme dashes to the toy, picks it up in her mouth and Ken immediately gets another toy. That goes into the air with the announcement, "I'm a little bear" or "I'm a hedgehog" or "I'm a rabbit." Emme immediately drops the toy in her mouth and dashes to grab the one just tossed in the air. Ken keeps grabbing and tossing stuffies and Emme spends about a nano-second with each before she drops it to run and grab the next one. This continues until Emme is panting with exhaustion. Then it is time to lie on the rug next to Ken for some loving. Good game!

Yum, Jelly

Over the weekend, Ken and I were having a quiet breakfast at the lake house. We sat for a long time at the little table in front of the window in the living room looking at the morning fog on the lake and at the birds eating on the high feeder. We drank many cups of coffee and each had a bagel with jelly. We both got up from the table for a minute and as I returned to the living room I heard a loud clatter. My bagel plate went one direction and my bagel, with half the jelly licked off, flew in the other direction. Sitting on my chair, with a chagrined look on her face, was a fluffy white puppy. She never gets up to the table. This was a first.

So instead of laughing, I put on a stern face and scolded Emme. She crouched lower and lower in the chair. I think this is only the second time I have yelled at her. One time previously, when we were working out housebreaking, I caught her in mid-doodle in the family room and I scolded her loudly. Now, the bagel incident. She looked impressed as if she was deciding that jumping up to the table was not a good idea. She really didn't like being scolded.

It didn't last long however. Later that morning, I caught her up on my chair again looking over the empty table to see what was what. I think we need to be more careful in the future not to leave food unattended on the table or else Emme may help herself to more snacks.

Just Waiting

When Emme comes upstairs with me, she plays for a while in my sewing room. Then she lies down to nap. Sometimes she chooses to lie in my sewing room, often right under my sewing machine. Other times she crawls under my desk and naps under the file drawers that are raised up about six inches above the floor. Other times, she goes out into the hall and lies down by the top of the stairs. Being a companion dog is such hard work!

Hello, Lolly

My daughter-in-law, Katherine, is writing a blog called Hello, Lolly about their new French Bulldog. In the photo above, Lolly is sitting on a quilt I made for her. Katherine's blog will be a good way for all of us to get to know Lolly.

Loving Our Lovies

One thing that each dog does every morning is spend some time loving their special lovies. Emme usually gets Big Momma Gorilla and Rudy gets the Really Big Lovie teddy bear. They lie on the rug and mouth the lovies. Emme sometimes makes little whiney sounds as she is settling in; Rudy is always silent. They will lie there for minutes at a time with their lovies. Sometimes they fall asleep in that position. Ken and I drink coffee, read the paper and do Sudoko and crossword puzzles while Emme and Rudy are occupied. This is a nice quiet way to start the day.

Upstairs

Emme does not have the run of the house. She is always with one of us. If Ken and I are both on the first floor, so is Emme. At night, all four of us go upstairs to bed. During the day, if I go upstairs, I invite Emme to come with me. She loves it in my sewing room because she has many toys to play with. But she comes upstairs by invitation only. If we are on the first floor, that is where we expect to find Emme.

Recently, she has been sneaking upstairs by herself. She goes into our bedroom to sniff around. She goes into the guest bedroom to push the pillows onto the floor. She goes into my sewing room to find a toy. Or she just sits on the carpet and sticks her little head between the spindles and waits for someone to come find her. What a character!

Only One Toy

After watching Emme and Rudy struggle over a toy that they both want, Ken and I often say, in jest, "It is a shame that the dogs have only one toy. Maybe some day we should buy a second toy so they each could have one to play with."

No matter which toy one dog picks up, both need to have that toy, and only that toy, right now. They tug and play growl at each other. If one tires of the game and drops the toy, so does the other one. They only want it if the other one has it.

What a Way to Start a Morning

As soon as Emme and Rudy get up, they need to go outside to take care of business. Right after that, they need love. It is lucky that Ken has two hands, because both dogs need to be loved, right now. Both Emme and Rudy need to have some attention and it is a sweet way to start a day, for both dogs and humans.

Lolly Comes Home

My son Eric and daughter-in-law Katherine picked up their new French Bulldog puppy, Lolly, over the weekend. So far all is going well. The new puppy is settling in. The old cat, Buster, is cautiously interested. Eric and Katherine are delighted.

Eric wrote:
I made a quick video to post, so you can see what she looks and acts like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9eNV6w5Zj0
And I'll be periodically dumping new photos into this Flickr photo set as she's getting settled: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericnuzum/sets/72157602021880452/

Pupdate Extra: The Dead Travel Fast

My son Eric's new book is being released this Tuesday. The book is called The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula. Eric is a wonderful writer and his book is a good read.

This morning when we opened the Sunday Beacon Journal, in the Premier Section was a column called "Book Talk" and Eric's book was the first one reviewed, under the title "Vampire lore a bite of humor." The reviewer called the book "not only hilarious, but highly informative, with background about Bram Stoker, Vlad Dracula and Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

When I was a little girl and did something very good, my mother would say "I am so proud of you, it makes my ears wiggle." I have no idea what that means, but I knew it was very, very good. Needless to say, I am very proud of Eric. Eric, you make my ears wiggle.

Under the Love Seat

At the lake house, we have a love seat that has a wooden frame a few inches off the floor. Emme has discovered that she can crawl under the love seat and Rudy can't. She likes to get under the love seat and then sing/ whine/make little sounds. It is like: "Can't see me. Can't get me. Ha, ha, ha."

Emme spent some time there this week when we were at the lake house. She crawled under with a bone where she could chew and not be bothered by a big dog. She also found out that she could knock the little tennis ball under the love seat and only she could go get it. For a while, she was under the love seat and Rudy was on the floor out in front of it. She would knock the ball out to Rudy who would chew on it and then push it back under the love seat. They continued pushing the ball back and forth between them several times. I think they invented a game.

Rudy's Health

Rudy has a long history of allergies which manifest themselves as skin problems. His coat has been sparse; he itches a lot, and often gets skin infections. To alleviate this, Rudy has been on steroid therapy for years. A blood test recently revealed significant Cushing's disease, a liver condition created by the steroid use. We were concerned about the long term damage to his body so we jumped at the change to try a new drug. We are using Cyclosporine, an anti-rejection drug usually used by persons after receiving organ transplants. We started a gradual transition from Prednisone to Cyclosporine earlier this summer. At this point, he is completely off the steroids and on 150 milligrams of Cyclosporine daily. It is a very expensive drug but seems to be working on his coat. He has a full healthy looking shiny, coat which is darker than it has been and he is not itching.

We have, however, noticed other major changes in Rudy. He has had loose bowels throughout this entire process. He is taking an anti-diarrhea medicine that may or may not be doing some good. His stools are still runny some of the time. This is better than earlier this summer when they were runny all of the time.

He is reluctant to eat. Before the new medicine, he bolted his food. Now he is reluctant to eat and when he does eat, he eats very slowly. Ken has had to hand feed Rudy his meals on many occasions, or he just would not have eaten. We have discovered that Rudy LOVES tuna and we put some tuna on top of his kibble to encourage him to eat. Of course, Emme has to have tuna on her food also and she has turned from an indifferent eater to a voracious eater. The power of tuna.

Rudy no longer will do steps except for bed time when he does go up to the second floor to sleep in our bedroom. If he goes downstairs to the family room at the lake house, he will not climb the steps to come back upstairs. We have to take him outside and walk him up the hill to the kitchen door. If he goes to the basement in the Wooster house to be "shop dog" with Ken, Ken has to help him walk up the stairs one step at a time to get him upstairs.

Rudy doesn't play fetch any more. He used to live to fetch, but now he has no interest in getting his little red football. Ken takes him outside and throws the football. Rudy just sits and looks at it or walks slowly over to it and then sniffs.

Maybe both of these things are an indication that he is having some pain in his hips or legs. The vet has checked him over, but has found nothing to indicate why Rudy is no longer doing stairs or playing fetch. He thinks it might be the start of some arthritis, but this has come on so suddenly. Ken thinks that what ever is going on has been there for a long time and the steroids masked the pain. Other than not doing stairs or running, he evidences no pain. Somethings he plays with Emme just like in the old days, rolling over, kicking his feet, and play growling. I have no idea what is going on.

Rudy is much more lethargic, lying on the rug and sleeping, much more than in the past. He spends most of the day napping as close to Ken as he can get. We hope we are doing the right things for Rudy and hope that in the near future, he will get back to something near normal.

Marble Drop

Ken added a game called Marble Drop to his computer and Emme is fascinated with it. The game consists of marbles dropping down chutes and falling into scoring pockets. It is accompanied by noises, clangs, chimes, splats, and tunes. Emme sits on Ken's lap and watches the marbles fall down the screen.

Emme has a history of sitting on Ken's lap while he is on the computer. She has even watched woodworking video podcasts. But she has never been as interested in the screen as she is now with Marble Drop.

Pillows are Such Fun

Emme loves pillows. She finds them wonderful for napping. She cuddles on top of pillows, down beside pillows and under pillows. It all works. Emme has a bed pillow on the floor of her crate where she sleeps at night. Sometimes we will wake up and find Emme on top of her pillow. Other days, the crate will look empty because Emme has crawled under her pillow and is fast asleep.

She loves to go into the family room or living room, preferably when we are out of sight, and dive under all the couch pillows to toss them on the floor. She will sometimes go upstairs into the guest bedroom and toss the pillows from the bed to the carpet. Once the pillows have hit the floor, Emme is no longer interested in them. Pushing them on the floor is the whole game.

Emme has a dog toy which is a pillow in the shape of a flower that has squeakers in the petals. She hasn't mastered the art of getting the petals in her mouth to squeak them but she pounds them with her nose to make them squeak. She likes pillows.

First Anniversary

Yesterday, September 8, was our one year anniversary of having Emme come to live with us. A year ago we drive to Tallmadge to pick up Emme and began our lives together. What a year!

My fantasy puppy was always going to stay pristine and clean. My real puppy needs frequent baths and grooming every morning to have a fighting chance of being clean. Even then, a short visit to the lake house or a muddy backyard and everything can be quickly undone. We spend the day with a grubby, grey Bichon until we get her into a bath. My fantasy puppy was going to poop cotton balls and my real puppy makes impressive doodles that have to be picked up, by me. Starting every morning with a hand full of warm poop wrapped in a tissue was not part of the plan.

My fantasy puppy was going to be trained quickly to obey commands without a second thought. My real puppy obeys most of the time, when she wants. My fantasy puppy was going to go for frequent walks in the neighborhood. My real puppy is still learning to walk on a loose leash in the house and is distracted by bushes, noises, and everything else when we try walking outside. My fantasy puppy was going to lie on my lap as I read a book. My real puppy is more interested in licking my feet than lying on my lap.

My fantasy puppy was going to steal my heart. My real puppy has. I couldn't be happier. It has been a wonderful year.

Under the Cabinet

Emme loves to climb under the cabinet in the dining room. She lies there and sticks her little head out and makes a special growl that seems to mean "Look at me. I am so clever to hide under the cabinet." After we recognize her and she gets tired of hanging out under the cabinet, she gets up and starts another game. But sometime later, she will be back under the cabinet asking for attention. I don't know what the game is, but Emme sure does. She plays it often.

New Tug Toy

Yesterday, after I volunteered at National First Ladies Library, I made a stop at PetSmart. I was looking for a new dog food for Emme. She has been eating Solid Gold's Hund-n-flocken but seems to be getting bored with it. Emme's breeder, Darlene, recommended this food as well as a few others so I decided to try a different food for a while. I found some Nature's Recipe which is supposed to have no corn, wheat, preservative, colors or by-products which are know to cause allergic reactions in dogs. We began last night by giving Emme a few kibble of her new food mixed in with the Solid Gold. We will do a gradual transition and then see if Emme gets more interested in her meals.

While I was at PetSmart, I, of course, had to cruise the dog toy aisle. I found a tug toy that is billed to be extra strong. It is a purple rabbit made of canvas and has a piece of nylon webbing sew down its middle. That should help it stand up to a few good games of tug. With a little coaching, Emme and Rudy were playing with it last night. Each one has sought out the toy to play with independently also. Rudy lies on his back with the toy in his mouth and paws and chews on it. Emme likes to chew on the floppy parts, especially the ears. So far the tug toy is a big hit. Here's hoping it stands up to hard play.

Emme, the Foot Dog

Emme loves feet, especially bare feet. She loves to be touched and rubbed by feet and she loves to lick feet: toes, heels, arches, everything. I am not sure what the attraction is but she loves to find a time when I am sitting still and have taken my shoes off. Then she nuzzles my feet with her nose and pushes in between my feet so I can rub her. It takes so little to make a puppy happy. But feet?

Caterpillars

Emme has discovered caterpillars. We spend the Labor Day weekend at the lake house and one evening Ken and I were sitting on the deck watching the water and cooling off. Ken and I were drinking cold Dortmund Lager beer, his latest creation from the Brew Kettle. Rudy was napping and Emme was pouncing on dry leaves and eating twigs and acorn caps. Suddenly a small dark caterpillar started crawling across the deck right in front of Emme. Emme got down close and watched. She was entranced. The caterpillar moved and Emme watched. She didn't try to eat it and was content to watch it move SLOWLY across the deck. Even with Emme's nose a quarter inch from the caterpillar, it didn't speed up. Maybe it was already going at top speed. After a long time, the caterpillar started climbing one of the upright posts on the deck. Emme watched until the caterpillar got about 12 inches up and then she was attracted by the sound of a water skier on the lake and she lost interest in the caterpillar. Every day brings new experiences.