Now You Owe Me....

Mandatory cute puppy pictures!

Now on to the real story.  Dhali is going through a HUGE GINORMOUS EXTREME chewing phase.  He has chewed up so, so, so many toys.  A mountain of toys.  The toy box is getting emptied.  I would not be able to fit all the destroyed toys into one picture.  Right now he is really into squeaky plastic/rubber toys.  He ate the feet off of a bad cuz.  I did not know that it was possible to kill a cuz with too much squeaking.  He haz killed a cuz.  2 hollee rollers, pear ball, ice cream squeaky, green pepper squeaky, 2 wooly dog tugs, green frog's eyes, big blue and orange ball, orange 8 tug, sheep skin tug (expensive piece of junk, ripped apart when we were tugging), his bear baby blanket and more.

However the most expensive thing he has destroyed!!!

This Chris Christensen wooden pin brush. Thirty-five dollars.  $35.  Yes, for a dog brush.  Yes, for a dog brush made out of WOOD.  It works worked so well and I loved it.  Now I have to buy a new one. 

In other news, I have been doing some thinking since last week's puppy class.  Thanks for all the great encouraging comments!  I really appreciated it!  I'm not going to give up.  I realized that I had been lazy with Dhali's training for a few weeks.  I have a hard time choosing what I want to teach him.  There seem to be SO many things that I want him to learn, that I just end up not doing anything, because I can't decided on what we should start with.  I decided to make a dry erase chart with some things I want him to learn.  There are 1000 other things I would like to add to the list, but we have to start somewhere.  It also keeps me honest with how much we have actually trained.  Some times I think we have done so much training, but really we haven't.  Now I have a check list!  

My goal isn't to work on every single thing every single day.  But now I know what we have worked on and when we have worked on it.  We are still doing lots of playing and running around and other tricks.  But now Dhali is back to working for his dinner and I hope we can work on his ADD-ness.  Just a stage, but seriously little guy!  The puppy that wanted to work for an hour, now can only do 3 seconds, before he is running off to do something else.  He can't even concentrate on a kong stuffed with Primal Raw nuggets for more than 30 seconds, before he's off annoying the cat, wanting to go outside or tearing apart another toy.

He still is a little sweet heart though.  He will slow down long enough for a belly rub and petting.  He likes to follow me into the bathroom in the morning and sleep snuggled up next to the shower, while I get ready for work.

Cute little bugger.

I printed out a chart from Word and ran it through the $16 laminater (word? machine for lamination) that I bought on Amazon.

Jingle Hippo, Jingle Hippo

Jingle Hippo toy!  This toy is still rattling around the yard.  Looks pretty good!  Not bad for an Ikea baby toy.

Here is Tibby with the same toy in 2011 - Tibby

Don't Mess With My Holee Roller

The Drama!  He has the holee roller, he loses the holle roller and he sees the holee roller with another.  Will he ever get his holee roller back?  Should be a Lifetime movie.

Well, That Was Disappointing!

I had these big plans to take Dhali to a handling class tonight.  We got all loaded up and hit the road.  I'm not sure what happened, but I couldn't find the place!  I had the address in my GPS, but it took me to a residential area.  It was probably right there, but it's pitch black by 6pm and I couldn't see anything that looked like the right place.  Or even a driveway or any lights......it was SO DARK!  I drove around a little bit trying to see if I could find a sign or something, but nothing.  Then I got on the wrong road and almost drove to Loretta's!  LOL!  I was really lost.  I hate my GPS.  I swear it is trying to kill me by taking me on the most round about way to get to my destination.  

All was not lost though, I went to Chipotle for dinner and took Dhali to Petsmart.  I had a $5 giftcard from filling out a survey, so I bought the pups a few new toys and Catty got some treats.  I don't write a lot about Catty, because she's a cat and doesn't do too much.  She's getting older and has decided that the only thing she wants to eat are a certain type of treats.  So I bought her 2 big bags.  

When I checked out the girl asked me if I had a dog and a cat.  At first I couldn't figure out why, but then I realized that I was buying a bunch of cat toys and cat treats.  Yes, I have 2 catdogs and a full breed cat.  The 99 cent furry mouse was a big hit with the pups.  Tibby LOVES it.  It is her precious.  Dhali chewed its head off.  I also bought a blue holee roller.  I was hoping this would end the fighting over the red one.  I stick little pieces of chicken jerky in them and the dogs try and try to get the treats out.  The final toy is a big purple jingle ball.  It's a cat toy too and Dhali has been chewing on it, but so far it has held up.  I wish someone would design some dog toys that my dogs would like.  Durable, but not THAT durable.  Softer and with jingle bells.  Then I wouldn't have to buy cat toys for them!  They have almost every toy that Petsmart sells in their toy box, but there are only a very few that they actually like.  I'm getting better at figuring out what it is that they like in a toy.

Dhali was a good boy in Petsmart.  I think it must be one of the most difficult places to visit with a dog.  First of all, to a dog, it must reek of dog pee.  Dhali sniffed every single end cap, post and crack in the floor.  Hmmm, wonder why he did that?  Then it smells of every delicious cat and dog food and treats and raw hide, ect.  Then it smells like mouse, rat, birds, rabbits....  There is music and announcements in a man's voice at random times about sales that are going on.  The floor is super slippery.  There are walls with an overwhelming array of everything that a dog could imagine blocking their view.  People and dogs suddenly appear from behind these walls.  For a dog it is a weird, weird place.

My favorite parts were when we played a couple times.  Just silly wrestling with my hands and Dhali jumping and being funny.  It just showed me that he was feeling pretty comfortable and let him get rid of some stress. He liked it.  Chased after me down the aisle.  Then we played around with the big crates in the back of the store a couple of different times.  Dhali was very happy to jump in and out of the crates for treats.  Considering the huge level of distractions in the store he did really good.

Dhali with the mouse tail hanging out of his mouth.

Tibby with the mouse.  Her precious.  She's hiding underneath a chair so it doesn't get stolen.

2 holee's are better than one.

Red!  and     Blue!

Wordless Wednesday - Little Bro & Big Sis

Dhali Playing

Awwww remember when Dhali was sooo little??? I can't believe how fast the time is going by! He's so much bigger now! But still just as busy :)

16 Weeks, 2 Days

Today Dhali is officially the same age as Tibby was when I brought her home.  16 weeks, 2 days old.

Tibby was a good looking puppy!  She was so soft and pretty.

It's hard for me to tell, but I think Dhali is bigger than Tibby was at this age, just going by the toy.  Although, the toy lost some of its stuffing when Tibby ripped out most of the seams.  That's a big difference between the two pups.  Tibby is a toy ripper, even to this day, and Dhali, so far, hasn't shown any interest in ripping up toys.....maybe because that would require him to stop and sit still for a few seconds!

Tibby August 2010

Dhali Sept. 2012

Their coats are SO different.  It's really interesting to see.  Yes, Dhali's 'white' feet are perpetually tan, because he has started a nice collection of holes in the backyard.  Plus he jumps in and out of his little pool between digging frenzies.  Dirt + water = tan feeties.  

At this point in Tibby's life, 16 weeks, 2 days she was starting at zero.  Zero socialization, human interaction, play, training, seeing the world.

And Dhali has 2 months of seeing everything and doing everything he possibly can do (at hyper speed :P).

He is a sweet little guy.

When he gets scared, for example a strange cat was hissing at him, he runs over to me for a little cuddle and then goes back to explore the 'scary' thing.  Sometimes it takes a few back and forth cuddles/exploring before he's brave enough to try and play with whatever it is, but he always eventually tries to play with everything LOL!  I love when he wants to cuddle - so sweet :)

Bonus 16 weeks picture.  He always looks so serious!  And he is the least serious dog EVER.

Another Week

My Grandma has been in the hospital since Tuesday, so Dhali has been crated more than usual.  He told me loud and clear last night (no sleeping for anyone) that this was NOT ACCEPTABLE.  Today after work I took Tibby and Dhali for a nice long FAST hike.  He had lots of fun!  But that wasn't enough to tire out the little energy bunny.  When we got home he ran around, bit me AGAIN and played with me and Tibby.  There is a picture at the end of this post of the bite on my leg.  It hurt!  Little butt just ran up to me and bit me on the leg!

It was nice to get out and hike again.  Now that summer is over and the crowds are gone I hope that we can get out and do more hiking.  My Grandma was diagnosed with metastatic cancer today, but she's really cheerful about it.  She's 89 and isn't in pain or uncomfortable.  She is able to walk and enjoys everything.  Surgery isn't an option - she just wants to live the rest of her life, however long that is.  

So, I have been spending a lot of time visiting with my Grandma in the hospital.  I stop in her room every chance that I get during the day (I work in the hosp.) and just check on her, say hi, get things for her.  Then after work I have been sitting with her for an hour or 2 also.

So, today some visitors came to see her and my Mom was also there.  My Grandma tells her friends that I haven't come to visit her at all!!  That she hasn't seen me in a long time.  I had just been in her room 20 mins. earlier to tuck her in and show her how the TV worked!  She's not senile, she's just my Grandma.  LOL!  Maybe you would have to know her to understand.

I love all these pictures, but this one is funny!  Speedy Tibby, bright toy and pouncing Dhali.

The ultimate photo bomb.  I was taking a nice picture of Tibby and then bam! Dhali smacked her in the face.

"Iz pertending to be shi."

Artsy?  Waving Tibby strands over orange ball.

"Dis is so 'evey.  I brot it baks, I 'op you lik to kep it now.  Why you trow it away all da time?"

Ah!  Snappy!

Tibby laughing at Dhali.

Nice hair Tibby!

I think (sometimes) Tibby likes Dhali - just a little bit!  :)

Ow!  Little bugger bit me!  It's purple/black now.  

So Dhali is having fun growing up and being a puppy.  I'm trying to learn about Premack - it doesn't seem to work with Tibby if I say "go sniff", but if deer cross the path it works in a really big way.  Weeeee!  Fun!  We chased deer - stop - look at Mom - chase deer!  Not sure if she made the connection, but I did!  :P

11 Weeks Old and At the Farmer's Market

>

We went to the farmer's market again and my Mom and Dad went with us. It was fun! Dhali didn't want to be carried very much, so he bounced and hopped around on the end of his leash. He is SO SILLY! And cute! I wish I had a video of it, because it was very funny. He looked like he was dancing. Everyone loves him and wants to know what breed he is and if he will get bigger. We met a woman in a wheelchair with a 'therapy dog' that "is friendly! and just wants to say hi!". Yeah, friendly dogs don't usually growl???

He ate treats and was very attentive to get those treats LOL! He ate some treats from a few different people. He's so cute. But he gets into everything! Very interested in everything. He thought a rolling box/suitcase thing was so crazy - he wanted to chase it and he did a little jig when it went past and he couldn't reach it. Not scared of anything so far...

I played with him next to the parking lot at the farmer's market. We had played a bunch already, but he still wanted to play. He LOVES to run. He wasn't that interested in the toy, but he wanted to chase me, bite me, jump on me and bite/tug on my pants.

Dhali vs. the Treat Ball

Orangy

Daily Dog Challenge 264 - Vibrant - Pick your definition - just show us your dog being, with, or around something vibrant!

Orange!  And Green!  So vibrant it put Dhali to sleep.

Living The Summer

"You hang up first....no you....no you hang up f..i..r..s...zzzzzzz"

It's a pretty good life for the puppers (and me too!). 

A day in the life of Tibby and Ellie: 

get up early around 6am to potty and a quick game of fetch (Ellie)

Go back to bed for snuggles and get up for real around 9 (or 10.... :)

Play with the flirt pole/whip toy (see below) until Ellie's tongue is hanging all the way out

Tibby and Ellie play chase games and wrestle until Tibby's tongue is hanging all the way out

Go inside to rest up for 1/2 hour

Go outside for more playing

Inside to rest up

Outside for playing

Inside to rest up

Outside playing

Eating time

More playing outside

Play in sprinkler to cool down

Inside to rest up

Outside to play

Inside to rest

Outside to play - getting dark now....more fetching games and less chasing games.

Inside to escape mosquitoes

Last time outside to potty and play a quick game/pick up 5,000 toys from the yard and put sprinkler away

Sleeping time - very quiet in the house....just little snores from 2 tired doggies

And then just a quick little video showing Ellie's nice crate manners.  She's really, really improved a lot!  She's a smart puppy and she wants to be good/do the right thing SO bad.  She is really improving on her self control.  In the whip video you can see how she is able to wait and hold a sit (most of the time!) while I re-tie the toy on to the end of the whip.  A few weeks ago she would have just kept jumping at me.  Trust me....I have the scratches to prove it!  She has the sharpest claws I have ever seen on a dog.  I keep trimming them and they are STILL sharp, but in the last few days she hasn't scratched me once.  OR bitten me.  Before she would be so excited to get the toy that she would bite me as well as the toy.  Now she sometimes still gets my skin/fingers/arm, but she doesn't bite down as hard.  And she's stopped bite kissing me.  She use to run at me full speed, jump up, nip and lick me.  Ow.

She did that to my nose one time.  I thought that I might have a pierced nose.  :P