Canine Flu Vaccine

Yesterday we got a call from the vet about canine flu vaccine. Since Jan. 1 our vet is requiring the shot before boarding dogs. It prevents a type of flu that dogs can get, which makes them very sick and does not respond to the normal antibiotics. Since Emme and Rudy have boarding reservations coming up, we made an appointment yesterday afternoon to get the shots for both of them. It is the first of two required shots. They need to return in two to four weeks for a booster and then they will be protected.

When we entered the vet's office, Rudy was calm and well behaved, but Emme was frightened. She began shaking as I went up the steps to the office and kept it up until we got back in the car. Neither dog responded negatively to the shot itself so we don't know what was in Emme's mind. She just did not want to be there. It's just like mothers saying to their kids "This hurts me more than it hurts you." She was unhappy and I was glad to get her out of there. She was not pleased to go to the vet. I am pleased that she will have the flu protection. All's well that ends well.

Feet

Emme and Rudy have two very different responses to feet. Emme loves nothing more than to lie on her back and have me rub her belly with my feet. Rudy does not like being touched by feet, any one's, any time, any where.

Each evening we go upstairs to change into our pajamas and to play "Closet Ball." As we change our clothes, Emme entertains herself by playing the PM version of "Go Get." She runs back and forth between us from the bedroom to the closet as we take off our clothes and put on PJ's. Rudy brings in a squeaky toy and wants us to throw it for him. The game started out years ago as "Closet Ball" because Rudy always chose a ball to bring upstairs. Over the years it has changed and now his current toy preference is any stuffie that has a squeaker inside, usually one that he has liberated from my sewing room. The name of the game hasn't changed because "Closet Squeaky" just doesn't have the same ring.

As I am sitting on the chair in the closet, Emme comes into the closet and lies down so I can rub her belly with either my bare feet or my socks. Either one is fine as long as her belly gets rubbed. She repeats this turn her belly up to be rubbed in the morning when I get dressed. As soon as I sit on the chair, Emme runs into the closet and lies on the floor for her rub. If she is too far away, she will wiggle on her back to get closer. She knows a good thing when she sees it. Belly rubbing with feet is good for Emme.

Not so for Rudy. If he is under the dining room table with a lovie, which he always is at breakfast, and accidentally gets touched by a foot, he hops up like he was touched with fire. He grabs his lovie and moves over, out of foot range.

How can two dogs be so different?

Pretzel Thief

Last night Ken and I each brought a snack into the living room. I had a dish of dried fruit and nuts and Ken had a dish of peanut butter filled pretzels. We put them on the table between our two chairs and returned to the kitchen for something to drink. I looked back into the living room and Emme had gotten up on Ken's chair and stolen a pretzel which she was chewing on the seat of the chair. We dashed back into the living room, confiscated the remains of the pretzel and cleaned the crumbs from the chair.

We should have been more careful with the food but stealing is not usually a problem. As big as Rudy is, he could reach any food on any surface in the house. With the exception of one time when temptation was too much, Rudy has never helped himself to any food. One time at the lake house, we had a house full of company and Rudy was not being supervised closely enough. There were left over chicken shish kabobs on the kitchen table. A few minutes later, one was missing and a shish kabob stick and one piece of vegetable was lying on the floor under the table. We never saw him steal and eat the shish kabob but we knew it was Rudy. Other than that, Rudy never takes food that is not his. We often will cool cookies or bread on the kitchen counter or have left overs on dinner plates before we wash dishes. Rudy would barely have to stretch to reach them on the counter top but he doesn't.

Emme, on the other hand, is less reliable. One time while we were loading Ken's car to go to the lake, Emme got in the front seat and helped herself to a tube of Burt's Bees Lip Balm. She couldn't get it open, but she put teeth marks all over the outside of the package. We are always careful not to leave anything in the console that she could grab and chew.

So last night Emme was a pretzel thief and Ken and I are more aware of the possibilities of Emme helping herself to our food. We will be more careful in the future.

Guard the House

Emme and Rudy often spend time in their crates in the family room when both Ken and I leave house. They get the command "Go nighty-nite in your crate" and they dash into their crates and wait for a biscuit which they always get as a reward for going into their crate. Many times they anticipate our leaving by watching if we lock the back door, put on boots or get our coats from the closet. Then they run to their crates before they are told to do so.

Recently we have been leaving them up when we are only going to be gone for about an hour. Both dogs are well behaved and we have never had any damage or problems when they have been left alone unsupervised in the house. (Is this where I say "Knock on wood"?) The drawback to this is they don't get a biscuit. We just say "Guard the house" and leave. We mean "Keep the house safe from intruders." I think the dogs hear "Ha, ha, you don't get a biscuit this time." Maybe we should re-evaluate our leaving procedures and add a puppy biscuit when they are guarding  the house.  It seems only fair.

Not in the Mulch

Both Emme and Rudy love to do their business in the mulch in the flower beds in the back yard. I don't know what the attraction is, but they are drawn to the flower beds like a moth to a flame. No matter how many times we pull them out of the mulch and redirect them to the grass, the next time they go outside, they head for the mulch.

I have flowers and plants in those flower beds. I have tea mint and chives that I use in cooking and I don't want them watered by Emme and Rudy. I have hostas, crocuses, and creeping Jenny that I don't want to turn yellow and gnarled from dog urine. I dig in that soil with my hands when I put in a new plant or weed the beds. I don't want the dogs to use the flower beds and their own personal toilets.

Ken thinks that there may be some varmints that have a home in the flower beds or who walk through the beds. I don't know what the attraction is. I just want it to stop.

My Own Personal Key West - Off Topic

This entry has nothing to do with Emme or Rudy. It is only to show some of my plants that are flowering in the dining room.

I have four different orchids blooming at this time, two white ones and two pink ones.

I also have one purple African Violet in bloom.

A Christmas Cactus that must have its calendar confused is blooming and has more buds to open.

This is like having my own personal Key West. Beautiful flowers in the dead of winter. What a lucky woman I am!

Maybe It's Poison

Every morning after breakfast, Emme comes upstairs with me to my sewing room when I check my email. I always give her a sweet potato treat after we enter the room. I buy the "Bichon Fries" which are cut like crinkle cut french fries. I break them in half so she gets a piece about two to three inches long. She has just recently finished breakfast so she doesn't need a huge chunk of sweet potato. Although I have been doing this for months, every time I give her a sweet potato treat, she backs up and smells it like it might be poison. You think she would remember from day to day that the treat is wholesome and that she likes it. Instead, she has to sniff it suspiciously each time before she take it from me.

An Opportunist

Rudy is an opportunist. Every time Emme asks to go outside to do her business, Rudy "needs" to go outside too. Not sometimes, not occassionally, but every time. No two bladders could be this much in synch. He especially loves to wait until Emme has taken care of her business. Then he dashes over to put a tablespoon of urine on top of her spot.What's up with this?

Scratchy Feet

Emme has a way of saying "Let's play" "Let's nap" or "I need this toy." She does the "Scratchy Feet." She stands on the floor or a piece of furniture and scratches her feet on the rug or the cushion to make a noise. This means "I need something."

Emme knows that after lunch she and I will often go into the family room and nap. Emme loves to nap on the couch with me. I go get a quilt and a magazine or book and Emme dashes for Big Mama Gorilla. She can't jump on the couch with Big Mama Gorilla in her mouth so she waits until I spread out the quilt on the couch and then pick up Big Mama Gorilla and place it in Emme's favorite nap spot at the end of the couch.

If Ken and I are eating lunch in the kitchen and are taking too long in Emme's estimation, she will begin the process of setting up for a nap. She jumps up on the couch and pushes the throw pillows around. She relocates the pillows to other places on the couch or down on the floor. If that doesn't get me into the family room, then she stands on the couch, stares me in the eye and does Scratchy Feet. That almost always works to get my attention.

The dogs' toy box is between the living room couch and my chair. If Rudy wants something, he just goes to the box, roots around and grabs something with his mouth. Emme doesn't usually get something herself from the toy box. The sides of the box are only a few inches high and she can easily reach most of the things in the box but she wants help. Instead, she stands next to the box and does Scratchy Feet so I will look down at her. If the Scratchy Feet doesn't do it, she will add a whine for good measure. Then I pick up each toy until I have the one she wants in my hand and she takes it from me.

Where did she come up with this as a means of communication? I wonder if other dogs scratch their feet to say "I need."

The Nuzum Dog Show

Every morning we have a routine with the dogs. After Emme and Rudy have gone outside, we play "Go Get." Ken sits at the dining room table and I sit on the couch in the living room and we send Emme back and forth between us with the command "Go get Ken or Go get Mary Lou." She will keep it up long enough that by the end of the game she is panting with the exertion. Rudy usually just comes over and sits next to me beside the couch so I can rub his chest or his ears. He doesn't participate in the crazy "Go Get" game.

But recently Ken has added "The Nuzum Dog Show" to the morning games. At the end of "Go Get" Ken calls "Rudy come" and Rudy and Emme both run over to him. He then gives the command for sit or down and stay. He opens the pantry door to get a bag of dog treats. Rudy usually stays but Emme is so full of excitement and expectation that she pops up and moves closer. Ken again gets both dogs down and after they have stayed down for a while, he gives each of them a half of a dog treat. Sometimes they do quite well. Other days, Ken has to sit them down two or three times before they stay. Either way, it is a fun way to start our day. "Go Get" and "The Nuzum Dog Show."

Blanket Buddy

Both Emme and Rudy love when we change the sheets on our bed. One or the other always runs to the end of the bed and lies down on the blanket. It must smell like Ken and me and the dogs love to sneak a few minutes on the blanket. They don't do anything bad to the blanket. They don't lick or chew. They just lie there as we remove and replace the sheets and reluctantly get up when we are ready to put the blanket back on the bed. It is funny that our dogs have some things they always do. Lying down on the blanket is an "always."

Pup on a Spring

Emme has a unique way of getting our attention. She pops up and down like she is on a spring. She doesn't jump up on us, rather she pops up and down next to us. She keeps her back feet planted on the floor and bounces the front half of her body up and down in one spot. She usually does this to get us to get up and move. If she thinks it is time for bed and we are not making any move to get up, she will come up next to one of our chairs and do her "Pup on a Spring." She will keep it up until one of us responds to her. Sometimes it is time to get up and go to bed; other times her clock is off and we tell her it is only 8:15 and even we don't go to bed that early.

Emme will sometimes do the popping up when she thinks it should be time for breakfast or dinner. She has an internal clock and is not hesitant to tell us that it is time to do something. We are well trained.