Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Introducing Mina - Off Topic


My neice, Stephanie, had her baby on Tuesday night. She is a healthy baby girl named Mina Jillian. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. Both she and her mother are fine. I am now a great-aunt! Welcome to the family, Mina.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Leave It



We are trying to teach both Emme and Rudy a group of commands that will make them pleasant to live with and keep them safe. We have worked on Come, Sit, Heel, Leave It, Stay, Down, and Off, among others. They both know all of these commands and obey them with some success although neither of the dogs is perfect.

Yesterday at lunch, as usual I put out calcium pills for both Ken and me along with our food. Ken picked up his calcium and immediately dropped it on the floor. Of course, both dogs were near by. They started to go for the pill and Ken said "Leave it." Both dogs stopped at the command and left the pill. This time, it was not a pill that would have been a danger for the dogs, but other medicines could do major damage if a dog ate them. I am so glad that we are teaching the dogs things they need to know and glad that the obey, usually.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Double Blitz


We are used to having Emme dashing around the house periodically doing a "blitz." Yesterday we had a "double blitz."
Ken and I were sitting at the kitchen table having a snack and in from the dining room came Emme with the little grey squirrel in her mouth and Rudy came chasing behind her. They ran, full speed, from the living room, through the dining room, into the kitchen, to the family room, circled around by the fireplace and then retraced their steps. In a minute the entire blitz was repeated. A few minutes later, the blitz returned. Emme ran into the room with nothing in her mouth, followed by Rudy loping along at her heels. This was repeated a second time: two dogs, no toy. Shortly after, we had one last double blitz and then they were both so tired, they laid down on the rug to rest.
One dog doing the blitz is funny. Two dogs doing the blitz together is hilarious. Rudy is learning the strangest things from Emme.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

A Purring Dog

When Emme is really relaxed and is being petted, she almost purrs. She make low moaning, snuffling sounds in her throat and chest. She doesn't do this when she is by herself. She only purrs when someone is petting her. I don't know what it means, but it is the most satisfied, relaxed sound she makes. It sounds like she is saying, "I like it; I am comfortable; keep it up." It is like she is purring.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Rough and Tough

Emme is learning to growl when she plays tug with Rudy. Following advice from a number of different dog books we read, neither Ken nor I play tug with the dogs. Many different authors cautioned that playing tug with a dog is teaching an aggressive game and setting the dog up to believing that he/she is the alpha dog if it wins the tug game. I don't know if that is true, but we read it so many times that we decided there were other games we could play with the dogs so we never play tug.

Emme and Rudy play tug together, though, usually choosing the flimsiest toy to play with. We have a few really sturdy tug toys that they pass up. They grab instead a fluffy; one grabs the head and the other a tail or leg. The fluffies don't always survive this game and I can't tell you how many of them have a visit to my sewing room to have a seam mended or a leg sewn back on.

It is funny to watch a big, dark 80 pound dog tugging one end of a toy and a little, white, fluffy 12 pound dog pulling on the other end. Rudy pulls enough to make a game, but not enough to throw Emme around the room, as I am sure he could do if he chose. While he is tugging, he growls which does not scare Emme but does provide an audio accompaniment to the game. Emme is usually silent. Determined, eager, but quiet. Just the last day or so, she has begun to growl when they play tug. It is not too intimidating coming from a dog that looks a little like a dust mop. But now it is part of the game too.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Someone's Missing


Whenever Ken or I am away from the house for a long time, both Emme and Rudy get hyper-vigilant. If we are only gone for three or four hours, the dogs seem to think that is fine. They go on with their lives without a care. But if one of us is gone all day, after about six hours, the dogs go on alert. It is like they decide that someone is missing. She/He has been gone long enough and the dogs are super alert waiting for the return. If a car goes down the street, Emme is up on the back of the couch, checking if that is the car that will stop at our house. Rudy runs to Ken's office to look out the window to see if one of our cars is coming into the garage.

Yesterday Ken was gone for the day and the dogs were fine until about four o'clock. From then on, every time there was a noise outside, they thought it was Ken. It was like living with two pets with ADHD. Nap, bark, play, bark, bark, nap, etc., etc., etc. They have a real sense about how things are supposed to be and that includes two people in the house.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

A Study in Contrasts

Emme is such a study in contrasts. Sometimes she is so soft and cuddly, touching my eyelids with angel kisses; other times, "rassling" like she is a member of some wrestling tag team. Sometimes she is so welcoming to visitors, rubbing against their legs and rolling over on her back to be petted; other times she barks like she attended guard school and guarding the house is her job in life. Sometimes, she knows the commands "Sit, down, come, heel, off," and other times, she acts like I am speaking a foreign language when I say those words. Sometimes, she is eager to eat her meal and finishes every kibble; other times she picks at her food, and leaves a large portion at the end. Some times she is white tornado, blitzing around the house non-stop. Other times, she is a couch potato, lying on our legs for an hour at a time as we read or watch TV. She certainly keeps us entertained.

Discovering Bears

Over the years, I have made a number of fully jointed mohair teddy bears. I have made over 30 bears ranging in size from four inches to 24 inches in every color and every style of fur. They are not play bears because they have glass eyes and metal and wooden joint hardware. Ken made me a bookcase, pictured above, where I display part of the bears while others are stored in containers on the second floor. I rotate the display bears and sometimes decorate the bookcase for holidays and seasons.

Rudy has never bothered the bears even thought I always displayed the bears on every shelf, even the one right on the floor. When I got Emme, I was not as confident that she would leave the bears alone. They look a lot like some of her lovies and I was not sure she would understand the difference between hers and mine. So I moved all the bears up to the higher shelves and put plants or other items on the bottom shelf. Recently, I moved furniture in the family room and put a chair right next to the bear book case. Last night, I found Emme up on the seat of the chair investigating the bears on the upper shelves. I told her to "Leave it" and she did. I hope she forgets all about the bears.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Knitting Again

I used to be a knitter before I got Emme. When she was a puppy, she loved nothing more than the smell of wool yarn and every time I got out my knitting, she jumped up to grab the balls of yarn and the project I was working on. It became so difficult to try to protect my knitting from her that I just put it away.

A few weeks ago I got the urge to knit and bought a little kit to make a felted knit flower. The project was small and I wouldn't have large balls of wool by my chair. With some hesitation I got it out to begin to knit. Emme couldn't have been less interested. She didn't even come over to investigate my knitting. I finished the flower which is pictured above and got out another project. I am working on a felted bag called the French Market Basket using Noro self-striping yarn and it is really looking nice. Emme is not bothering me and I am enjoying knitting again.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Dear Dogs and Cats




Ken got the following email and it was so cute I wanted to put it in the Pupdate:

Dear Dogs and Cats,

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, or try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years -- canine or feline attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don't.

2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it 'fur'niture.)

3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.

4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

Remember: In many ways, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
1. Eat less

2. Don't ask for money all the time

3. Are easier to train

4. Normally come when called

5. Never ask to drive the car

6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends

7. Don't smoke or drink

8. Don't have to buy the latest fashions

9. Don't want to wear your clothes

10. Don't need a 'gazillion' dollars for college And finally,

11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Nighty-night in Your Crate

Ever since we got Rudy, we would say "Go nighty-night in your crate" and he would dash to his crate in the family room and go inside. Then, with his head hanging out the door, he would wait (semi-)patiently for one of us to give him a dog biscuit and shut the door. Since we have gotten Emme, we all sleep upstairs in our bedroom on the second floor at night. We say "Time to upstairs to bed" so it sounds like a different command than go to your crate. Emme has a crate in our bedroom and Rudy sleeps on the rug.

We still have a crate for each dog downstairs and we put them in there when we both are gone out of the house during the day or early evening. Both dogs rush to their crates either when we say "Nighty-night" or even before if they see us getting on coats and boots or going to the cupboard for dog biscuits. They go in the crates willingly and eagerly.

Emme seems to understand the difference in the two commands. "Nighty-night" gets her into her crate and "To bed" gets her upstairs after she helps Ken take his pill and get dog biscuits to take upstairs with us.

Rudy is hopelessly lost. No matter which command we say, Rudy first runs for the crate. He is going to obey even if he is not sure what we want. If we don't show up within a reasonable length of time, he dashes out of the crate, locates us and runs back to the crate again. So at night when we go to bed, Rudy is in and out of the crate a few times and then up the stairs to the bedroom. We still have a little work with Rudy on figuring out these commands.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

I Love Your Eyes


Emme has the strangest habit, one of many, I guess. When we stop on the stairs to "chat," she smells my eyes. Ever since she was very small, whenever we go down stairs from the second floor to the first, we stop and chat. I go down two steps and sit down on that step. Emme stays on the landing. This way our faces are exactly the same level. Then I pet her and tell what a good girl she is and how much I like her. She leans over and smells my eyelids. I close my eyes and she sniffs my lids. Her nose is cold and damp and it feels like tiny angel kisses every time she touches my eyelids. Why does she do it? I have no idea in the world, but she does it almost every time we chat. There must be a reason. Only Emme knows.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Seven Deer


We were at the lake this week end and, while we were sitting at the table by the living room window having coffee, seven deer loped across our front yard between the house and the lake. They were all female or young bucks: not a horn in sight. Kind of strange for Lake Buckhorn. They were coming from the left and running to the yard on our right and as we continued to count, we got more and more excited. We often see a deer or two but seldom this many.

When Emme and Rudy go to the lake house, they can't get enough of sniffing the yard. They ask to go outside again and again to do their business, but spend more time smelling than producing anything. Maybe they are smelling seven deer that ran across the yard on another day.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Best Pals


I am always amazed at how well Emme and Rudy play together. They are physically so different. Rudy is large and dark with smooth fur. Emme is little, white, and fluffy. They couldn't look more different. But they like one another and they play well together. Rudy is so strong that he could easily overpower Emme, but he seems to realize her size. They play tug and Rudy pulls only hard enough to keep up the game and not so hard that he throws Emme around the room.

Rudy is very tolerant of Emme when it comes to food. Emme is sure that whatever Rudy is eating has to be better than what is in her dish. She will occasionally wander over to his dish while he is eating. He just lets her nibble some food from his dish. He is not protective of his food or mean to her. If they both have a Kong or a bone with peanut butter inside, Emme will sometimes leave hers and go and check out Rudy's. He doesn't seem to mind. He lets her lick at his and then pushes her aside so he can finish. No biggie.

Rudy shares toys with her, up to a point. Sometimes Emme can just walk up to Rudy and take a toy his is playing with. Other times, especially with a lovie, she goes to pull it away and Rudy gives her a warning growl. Emme seems to understand that she has crossed a line and leaves the lovie alone.

They couldn't look much different or get along much better. We are lucky.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

15 Minutes


Emme has many quirky habits and I often wonder "Why does Emme do that?" Ken has always said if he had 15 minutes where Rudy could talk, Ken would have many questions he would want answered. I want 15 minutes with Emme. She would have a lot to tell me.

She waits to eat until Rudy is done. Is that because she considers him the alpha dog and is waiting her turn? After Ken and Rudy get up in the morning, Emme waits patiently in her crate until I turn on the lamp on the night stand and then we get up. How does she know that we get up at different times? She loves for me to hold a chewie for her to gnaw on. Is that a hold over from some wolf eating behavior from the past? She loves to be touched but runs away when I am ready to wash her eyes and paws. I know it doesn't hurt her. Why does she run? She runs away from me; I tell her "Sit" and she does and I pick her up, take her to the laundry room to wash and brush her. We do this every day. Why does she resist this?

Bichons are supposed to be lap dogs. Emme is a leg dog. If we put a quilt over ourselves while we are in the recliner chairs, she jumps up on our legs, not our laps, and settles down. Why does she choose legs over laps? She loves to climb under the love seat at the lake house. If we don't respond, she will whine to let us know that she is there. Then when we say "Where's Emme?" She is happy. What is that game?

Emme is not a real enthusiastic eater; she has a casual approach to meals. But she seems to know when it is almost breakfast time and dinner time. I don't think it is because she is really hungry because often she eats very little. What does she observe that makes her know a meal is coming?

She loves to ride in the car. As soon as we get started, she settles down in my lap and naps for the whole ride. Why is this fun? She could just as easily nap at home. When we return home from a ride in the car, she seems to know when we get to our street and gets excited. How does she know where she is? When we leave the house and don't take the dogs, we put the dogs in their crates. They watch us and sometimes are in the crates before we give the command. Do they understand that putting on our coats and turning on the outside lights means we are leaving the house? How did they figure this out?

Maybe I need more than 15 minutes.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

65 Degrees and Sunny...in January


Yesterday it was 65 degrees and sunny on the seventh of January...in Ohio! We usually have a "January thaw" but seldom one like this. I think we broke hundred year old weather records. We took advantage of the warm weather and spent a few days at the lake. We made good use of the time. Ken worked out in his shop and I knitted and read. Yesterday afternoon we sat on the deck and had snacks outside in the warm weather dressed only in our shirtsleeves. What a treat for January!

Because we ran some errands, we picked up mass quantities of Holmes County dirt on our car. On the way back to Wooster we went through a drive through car wash. This was a first for Emme. She was interested in watching the water and soap suds cover the windshield and side window but she was most fascinated with the smells. Each solution had a different smell and the odor came in through the vents. Each time a new smell showed up, Emme got close to the vent and sniffed until I thought she would hyperventilate. When we got home Emme got a bath also. She was dirty and grimy and came out of the bath smelling and looking much better.

We have one more day of warm weather predicted for today, but we are back in the Wooster house. Ken has a day-long obligation and I have things to do. So we won't be sitting on the deck watching the sun on the water. But it was fun while it lasted.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Goodbye, Christmas 2007

Yesterday we took down all the Christmas decorations. I have packed boxes and Ken has made many trips up and down the basement stairs. The trees are bare. The Christmas quilts and wall hangings have been put away and replaced with non-holiday ones. The Santas, angels, reindeer, and nutcrackers are all packed away until next year.

We will all miss the Christmas decorations, but I think Rudy will miss them most of all. He absolutely fell in love with the tree in the dining room and spent hours this holiday season lying under the tree on the white Christmas tree skirt. Any hour of the day, we could find Rudy, and often one of his favorite toys, under the tree. It will be a long wait until Christmas 2008.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

More than a Little Spoiled

Emme loves quilts. She not only loves to lie on quilts, she loves to be under a quilt. When we ride in the car, I have a little puppy sized quilt that I wrap her up in so she doesn't get cold in the car before it warms up. It doesn't matter that she has just come in from outside where she was playing in the snow, eating snow and rolling in snow. I don't want her to get cold in the car.

When we are in the house, I sometimes cover her with a quilt as she is napping or just lying on the rug or the couch. When I took this photo, Ken asked how I was going to explain in the blog how Emme pulled this quilt over her. I just have to confess, Emme is more than a little spoiled and I am the one who does it. So there.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Good but Not Perfect

Emme has been really good this Christmas, but not perfect. Yesterday afternoon I walked into the family room and found a felt gingerbread ornament lying on the rug. It might have fallen because of gravity, but since it was about four feet away from the Christmas tree, I suppose it had some help. Then when I reached down to pick up the ornament to put it back on the tree, I noticed the green ribbon hanger was more than slightly damp. Looks like puppy involvement. Good, but not perfect.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Don't Look at Her


I think Emme is getting tired of having her picture taken. She acts as though if she doesn't look at me, I will go away and stop taking photographs. Often when I get out the camera, she will sit still, but will turn her head away from the camera. She is like an ostrich putting its head in the sand: if I can't see her, she can't see me. I know that I do not want to be a pet photographer as a second, make that a third, career. It is just too hard to get good pictures. Here is a better photo. At least Emme is looking at the camera.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The Holidays are Just So Exhausting



I am amazed at the number of hours a day both of our dogs sleep. After sleeping all night from 10 PM to 6 AM, right after breakfast both dogs fall asleep in the dining room while we are having coffee and reading the newspaper. Many times during the day, the dogs nap. If you totaled all the hours Emme and Rudy sleep, I bet they are asleep more hours than they are awake.