Halloween

I’ll just start off by saying that I LOVE Halloween!  I love decorating for it, I love picking out costumes with the kids, I love trick or treating with the kids, and I now love getting Halloween themed items for my dogs.

I picked up a couple of glow-in-the-dark dog collars.  One is bright orange and says “Bad to the Bone” on it.  The other is lime green and says “Boo!”  I also picked up a couple of costumes.  The oldest has a pumpkin shirt from last year, so he can be a pumpkin again.  The younger 2 I picked up prisoner “pajamas.”  Nothing more appropriate than a couple of pit bull type dogs in prisoner costumes.  They’re very cute.  I can’t WAIT to take pictures and to take them trick or treating!

Do you celebrate Halloween with your dogs?

Its starting to feel like fall here in California!

I took the hyena out for a run today.  Remember, he needs at least 3 miles of hard exercise to calm him down. 🙂  This is the first day in a few months where its been cool out.  Maybe around 65, with a lovely breeze.

We ran 3.69 miles through beautiful O’neill Regional Park.  It took us about an hour because we had to stop for potty breaks, water breaks, sniff breaks… you know how dogs are…

On the way home, we encountered a man walking his large lab-ish mix dog off leash.  The dogs locked eyes, but my crazy hyena was so good to keep on running.  He was busy “working” and wasn’t going to stop for anyone. 🙂

 

When we rounded the corner at our house, our neighbor’s tortoise was out hanging out on our neighbor’s driveway.  So, after taking the pooch in, giving him praise, working on a few commands, I got to go take the tortoise home.  I live in such an interesting place.

 

Here’s to fall!

Eiww… Thirsty Much?

Eiww, I just caught the middle guy drinking out of the toilet!  Gross!  I didn’t even think he was tall enough to get his big blocky head in there.  I just hope one of the kids flushed prior to him drinking…..

 

Does your dog drink out of the toilet?

Tired?

Do these guys look tired, or what?

 

“Put some Windex on it!”

You’ve seen it: “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and you know how the dad always says to put some Windex on it – for ANYTHING!  That’s how we feel about Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV).  Its like this magical cure all home remedy that we always have around for the dogs.

We first heard about using ACV when we were researching home remedies for skin sensitivity for our oldest dog.  When he was around 4 months old, he broke out in a really bad rash, which looked like his stomach was covered in hot spots.  We discovered he had a food allergy, and had to go on prescription food for a while.

Then our second dog had a little spot behind his ear where he started loosing some hair, and it looked like some sort of skin irritation.  Just rub some ACV on there!  It cured it right up after a couple of uses.

So the little one has a hot spot in his armpit that he keeps scratching at, and we’ve been using ACV again to help soothe the area.  Sure it burns a little, but it supposedly a wonder home remedy. 🙂

 

So, I often times feel like the dad from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” as I tell my husband to just rub some ACV on whatever it is that needs a remedy… 🙂  Have you used ACV?

Good morning, 5:45!

Now, I realize that 5:45 isn’t that early for some of you, and that I should not be complaining.  But, we stayed up late to watch movies last night, so I came to  bed around midnight after letting all the hairy beasts out back to do their just-before-bedtime business.

It was dark, and I awoke to hear what sounded like chewbacca drinking out of the toilet downstairs.  That’s not good, I don’t want my dogs drinking nasty toilet water, so I go down to close the lid and make sure they have water in their bowl.

As I walked down the stairs, I was greeted by two very HAPPY dogs who were ready to play.  The older two dogs sleep downstairs, while the little pup sleeps up in bed with us (I know, we should crate train, but Ill save that nightmare for a different post).

Middle pup is very vocal.  He likes to “speak” what’s on his mind. So, of course as I get downstairs and shut the baby gate, he starts barking at me.  I’m sure he’s saying something like, “Come on, mom, time to play!” or “Why can’t I sleep upstairs with you?”

Then I notice that the oldest pup was sitting by the back door. OK, lets do another potty break.  Come on big boys, you should be able to last longer than midnight – 5:45am… that is unless they’ve been drinking out of the toilet all night…

So after about 10 minutes of letting the guys out one at a time, because if I let them out together, they’ll just want to play, and its dark, and I’m sure all my neighbors are sleeping, its just a recipe for disaster.

So, now its 5:55, dogs have gone out, they’re watered, time to go back to bed.  OH WAIT, after all of that, I’m now wide awake.  So, time to get caught up on bad tv on the DVR while the rest of the family sleeps….  🙂

 

Do your dogs ever wake you up super early in the morning?

Yuppyville

Yes, that’s right, I live in Orange County, which can also be described as Yuppyville.

This morning I was taking the kids to school, we had the 4 month old puppy with us.  The drop off line at my daughter’s private school was too long to sit through, so we parked and walked.  Yes, that means get the puppy out and make him go with us. 

Usually, people love puppies.  But I noticed myself getting a lot of weird looks from parents and other kids.  Sure, I probably own the “wrong” kind of dog living in Yuppyville, but we love the breed, so why should I care what others think about my dogs.  Its just interesting to see the looks that you get based on the type of dog you own.

 

Just an observation for my Friday morning… 🙂

Why do I seem to be the only person who does this?

When I take the crazy dog for a run, I always pack him water.  Why?  Well, I live in California, and in the spring, summer, and fall, it can be hot out.

So, I carry this awkward, bulky fanny-pack looking thing just for him to have water (this isn’t the exact one I have, but its similar):

 

So, being in Orange County in California, lots of people are active, and I always see people jogging with their dogs.  But, never any water.  Dogs can get tired too, they can dehydrate just like humans can.  I actually saw a guy the other day walking his 2 dogs in 90 degree heat, and they both had booties on (like this image below), and I thought to myself – yeah, dude, take care of those guys’ feet!

Now, carrying this cumbersome thing that bounces on my back as I run, isn’t completely horrible.  Not only can I bring water for my beloved pooch, but I can also easily stash my cell phone (just in case), and since we’ve had a run in with an off-leash, no humans around, pit bull and doberman in our neighborhood, I toss in a canister of Bear Spray.  Its basically a big canister of pepper spray, and it looks like this:

I have a couple of canisters from our last trip to  Yosemite.  Now, is this a little excessive?  Maybe, but I’m taking precautions.  Pepper spray to the face of an aggressive off leash approaching dog is much better than a dog fight on the street, in my opinion.  And when I’m running, I can’t really run with a breaking stick (didn’t your mom teach you not to run with sticks? mine did.)  You never know.  Also since I live in a rural area, you never know when you’ll come across a coyote, and what might actually happen.

 

So, thats our “kit” for running.  Do you pack water for your dog when you know its going to be warm out?

Mr. Anxiety

So our oldest pup has a little bit of a high energy / anxiety issue.  Granted, he’s only 15 months old, so its understandable to have crazy puppy energy – but this is like something I’ve never seen before.

Think of those dogs you see on the Dog Whisperer that go bananas over everything, that’s our guy, but worse.  Its not like he’s trying to be bad, you can just tell that’s how he’s wired.  We have to remind ourselves that “he means well.”

It should have been a clue when I would have to take him at 8 weeks old for sprints around our neighborhood just to keep his energy level OK.  That’s fine, I’m an active person, I enjoy being active, I can handle a dog who needs lots of walks/runs.  But now it appears to be transitioning into anxiety.  He has separation anxiety, anxiety in the car, anxiety when out walking around.  I know that anxiety in a dog can lead to bad things, which is why I’m trying to work with him to deal with his issues instead of just keeping him locked in the house to never experience anything.

Why don’t you try some home remedies.  Oh, you think we haven’t tried any?  We tried the Thunder Shirt, no difference.  We’ve tried some other pet-safe anxiety remedies, no difference.  We’ve given him Dramamine for his car anxiety, no affect.

So, our solution, other than prescription drugs or a lobotomy, is to exercise the anxiety out.

When I take him for a walk, it has to be a LONG walk, like 2 miles plus to really wear him out to the point where his energy is manageable.  For the first 3/4 mile, he’s PULLING like crazy.  I know that when a dog is “red zone” you really cannot do any training until they get past that.  So, for the first 3/4 mile, I basically just hold on and try to keep him next to me without too much training.  After that first part, he’s calm, and walks like a normal dog, but you can tell that he’s just not comfortable.  Any little sound startles him.  When we go by barking dogs in their yards, he just wants to charge ahead.  I’ve started making him sit and stay by these dogs, just to get him used to other dogs, and to the sounds they make.  Then when we walk, we stop every now and then for water, to allow a loud car to drive by, or just for some additional training.

He’s a lot of work, and he is very rewarding because he LOVES his humans.  But, its more time out of my day, away from the kids, away from work, away from the other dogs.  So, I just have to find a way to fit him in. 🙂

 

Does your dog have anxiety issues?  What have you tried?

Your Dinner is Served… Part 2

So, I got some pictures of “Mr. Picklepants” being extra picky about his kibble.  He does this with all kibble, its not that he doesn’t like this particular food.  He prefers human food, which we don’t give him.

 

He paws at it.  As if playing with your food makes it taste better….

 

 

 

Then he STARES at it.  Nope, its not going to change the taste no matter how long you stare at it.

 

 

…and STARES at it….

Followed by the pathetic face…. “Daddy, PLEASE give me some human food.”

 

 

 

Come on Mr. Picky, its Blue Buffalo, its the good stuff…