Good Dogs, Bad Dog Food

I’ve been pretty quiet this week because there really hasn’t been much to report (or too much, depending on the way you look at it). I definitely lucked out in the puppy draw, because Jake is already almost completely potty trained. The only times he’s had accidents are when it’s Andy’s turn to watch him (go figure). We had a 4 day no-accident streak, but due to the reason I stated earlier, it didn’t go for a full 5 days. Luckily we have all laminate floors (except in the bedroom) so cleanup is pretty easy.

You remember I talked about how I was using the patio to help potty train Jake? It’s not even necessary anymore. It’s like he knows that, yes, it’s acceptable to potty out there, but he’d rather go in the grass. Every time I/we get the dogs’ leashes, Jake knows it’s time to go outside, and he almost immediately goes once we get down there. It’s awesome. He also knows the words for going on command.

He even let me sleep in on Saturday and Sunday. Seriously! I got to sleep in till 9am. It was marvelous.

Work has been hell lately. I was reduced to tears almost every day at the office last week. I’m working a job that is so stressful that it’s keeping me in a constant state of illness (which is SO fun, since I have a new puppy…), and even though I’ve submitted multiple applications (think several dozen) to many places that are hiring, I haven’t gotten a single callback. From the few people I have managed to talk to, I’m either overqualified or underqualified. Fun, right? I wish companies would decide upon a general standard.

Moving on, I recently changed my dogs’ food over from Pedigree to Taste of the Wild. I had heard good things about TotW before, from my family and from people online, but I never realized how much of a difference it would make in my dog’s appetite (Bear, specifically). He was always a light/picky eater (I’d had him on Pedigree for three years), and I just chalked that up to not needing a bunch of food. I also assumed his constant upset stomach was due to being fed something he wasn’t supposed to be fed (sensitive stomach). Man, was I ignorant the first few years of his life!

Turns out that foamy yellow vomit is generally a sign that a dog is hungry, and the acid buildup in its stomach has become too much for the dog’s stomach to handle, so they expel it. I never knew that until just last week.

The reason I found this out was because I just bought a new bag of Pedigree in early-mid July. It wasn’t until last week that I heard about the huge June recall of the Pedigree dog food.

I’d been considering switching his food over for some time, but this really sealed the deal when I did some research on the Pedigree dog food brand.

I have been feeding my dogs CRAP.

Food unfit for human consumption is crammed into those tiny little pellets, along with corn and grain and all sorts of chemicals that dogs technically can’t digest. The food is then sprayed with fat to make it seem edible and more alluring to a dog’s nose.

I read a few reviews after the recall. Some dogs DIED from eating this food. And not old dogs either; young 2-year-old dogs, puppies, middle-aged dogs…look it up! It’s scary!

You know when you switch over a dog’s food that you’re supposed to mix the new food with the old food gradually for about five days? On the second day, Bear was eating around the old stuff (Pedigree) but chowing down on the new stuff (TotW). Smart dog.

The reason his stomach has been upset for the past three years is because he’s been practically starving himself because the Pedigree dog food is so gross. I’m a bad dog owner for not noticing this. He used to do a “dinner dance” where he’d prance around his food, nose at it, take out one or two pieces and eat them across the room, move his dog bowl across the bottom of his crate…

He doesn’t do that anymore. I’ve never seen him so excited at meal times.

Suffice to say, I will no longer be feeding my dogs Pedigree. Jake’s breeder sent a bag of Pedigree over with him, so he’d been eating it too, but he’s since been switched to TotW as well.

Change of subject: In other news, it’s getting harder for me to take Bear anywhere. Naturally, because Jake is only 13 weeks old, he’s cooed over by every female passerby. He’s a baby, what can you expect? The problem is, Bear is usually with me too. I’m doing my best to make sure he doesn’t feel left out or replaced–he gets just as much playtime, and he goes outside every time I take Jake outside. It’s a chore, but I don’t want him to become jealous.

Apparently, this isn’t enough. Every time someone comes near the puppy, Bear starts growling or snapping. This is a new behavior, and obviously undesirable. Protectiveness is one thing, and I usually laugh it off to whoever attempted to pet the puppy as “oh, he’s just protecting the puppy, isn’t it cute?” But at home, or with my family, it becomes something much more serious. The last thing I need is for Bear to turn into an ill-tempered dog. Oftentimes, if the puppy is laying under my feet (which he usually does), Bear will take up residence somewhere else. If Bear is lying next to me and Jake tries to come lay down next to him, he will get up and find somewhere else across the room to lie down. He’s been spending as much time as possible in his crate.

Yesterday, I had both dogs over at my parents’ house. They were both in their separate pens. My mom, being a female, naturally would walk by Jake’s crate and put her fingers through the bars of his crate to let him lick them and fawn over her hand. Bear, seeing this, nearly rocketed through the bars of his pen, snapping and barking. Of course he doesn’t realize that this kind of behavior makes it less likely that a human being (besides me) will want to pay any attention to him.

When I was a kid, we had a golden retriever named Teddy. We’d had him for maybe a year or two (he was an adult when we got him), when my parents got Austin a puppy (that we later figured out was a Corgi mix lol). Teddy took to Hank like a duck to water. I never saw them fight, or growl, I never saw Teddy get vicious when the puppy got attention. It could be because they didn’t really have anybody but each other (they were outside dogs) so they naturally bonded. I’ve done this with Bear and Jake too. We have supervised playtime, where me or Andy will get down in the middle and play with both dogs, or we have supervised playtime where we watch the dogs play together. During these times, Bear always seems thrilled to have a playmate. The rest of the time though…I don’t know if it’s jealousy or just the transitionary period an older dog has to go through when a new dog is introduced to the family mix.

When we’re at the dog park, Bear has started humping other dogs. He NEVER used to do this. I know it’s a dominance thing, but he’s humping literally every dog he can wrap his paws around (male or female, neutered or intact). Humping is one of the few behaviors I don’t use positive reinforcement on. It is absolutely NOT okay for my dogs to hump anything or anybody. If my dog is humping another dog, he gets a sharp smack on the behind. Jake has already learned that it is not acceptable.

So until he gets used to it, what do I do? I can’t risk him actually biting somebody, that would be bad. I can’t leave him at home because that will probably just make it worse. It might get better once we get Jake neutered (at 6 months) or it might not. But the problem is, Bear is developing very negative behaviors (snarling, humping, moping, etc) that I don’t know how to curb.  I tell him ‘NO’ very sharply when we catch him doing it, but two minutes later he’s doing it again. Next thing I know, he’ll be using the bathroom in the house. Is he acting out? Is he jealous? What do I do?

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Puppy Fun: Day 2

We had a successful potty morning!!!!

And mommy got 8 hours of sleep!!! (well, almost :))

This blog is going to save my sanity, because I can go back and reread my posts and see the things I missed, and apply what I learned to the next day.

The Best Friend brought Mommy and The Boyfriend tortilla soup (thank you best friend!) so I didn’t have to cook, though it was really so she could meet Jake.

After eating, we proceeded to work on some crate training, and then tiring out the puppy so he’d sleep through the night (it was probably about 6 when she came over).

We managed to get Jake to go into his crate willingly, for about two seconds, then he’d hop back out again.

Unfortunately, he used it as a potty place when he hopped in there the last time.

Dang it, foiled again.

After we hauled him outside, cleaned up the mess, and bemoaned the fact that he liked peeing in his crate, we instigated the first real puppy play time between the two dogs since Jake arrived.

When Jake first met Bear, he was terrified. I don’t blame the little guy, Bear is easily three or four times his size, and about six times his weight! Bear of course wanted to play immediately. Jake didn’t think that was such a fun idea, and hid behind me.

We didn’t push it.

Now, Bear loves tug-o-war. He has since I got him as a young dog. He has a massive rope toy the size of his head that he and Andy often play with.

Jake has watched several tugging matches between Bear and Andy (and even myself, because I’m being extra careful to not leave Bear out in any way) and at one point, jumped up to grab the massive rope toy. The threads are basically like yarn, they’re so thick, so he really couldn’t get a good mouthful.

Luckily, I had bought a Jake-sized rope toy, so he got his own.

Which Bear noticed, and immediately wanted to play with.

I would play fetch with Jake with the rope toy, and if Bear wasn’t sufficiently occupied elsewhere, he’d jump over the puppy and grab it first.

Bear has torn apart lesser rope toys within minutes so I made sure to get it away from him every time.

But now we had some common ground. Bear would try to play fetch with the little rope toy, Jake wanted to play tug-o-war with the big rope toy. We could work with that.

The results of our efforts went something like this:

You have to understand, this dog is capable of hauling me across the floor if I’m playing tug-o-war with him. Andy is a lot stronger than I am and usually doesn’t stir off the couch when he plays with the rope toy, so he’s not as easily moved. We have laminate floors so Bear can’t get any traction, but if we’re sitting on the floor too, it’s fair game.

So for Bear to be playing so gently with Jake (or just rough enough that Jake didn’t ever quite get the upper hand lol) was so awesome.

Once Jake realized Bear wasn’t going to eat him, the rope toy lost his interest and it became more fun to chase Bear around the couch until they were both dizzy. This was also hilarious but I didn’t get a good video of it.

We made them play together until about 9pm (three hours!). They both slumped to the floor, tongues hanging out, panting. Jake pottied outside again (yes!), and I put him in his crate as the Best Friend started getting ready to leave. He settled down with minimal fussing and went to sleep. We took the sheets out of his crate, hoping maybe this would keep him from using the crate as his toilet again.

We also decided to leave him in the living room for the night so Andy could sleep in the bedroom again. Bear stayed out there to keep him company (something that didn’t make him too happy, as usually he sleeps on the carpeted floor at the foot of the bed), and we hoped it would be enough of a “pack atmosphere” that Jake wouldn’t cry too much.

Oh man was THAT a mistaken idea.

He cried. He screamed. He started howling. I could hear Bear shifting his weight in his crate in frustration (I’m sure Jake’s sharp barking hurts his ears more than mine).

I heard Andy grumble at me “You need to do something about your dog.”

I replied with basic puppy owner knowledge. “If I go in there it will only get worse.”

After about half an hour with no relief, I made an appearance to let Bear out of his kennel. I felt bad that he was being subjected to that noise, but I left him in the living room.

Jake quieted for about five minutes then started howling louder than ever.

An hour and a half passed, with no relief. It was nearing ten-thirty, and I began to worry that Jake’s shrieks would incite the neighbors to come to our door and beg us to please make him stop (I’m still planning on baking a batch of cookies and take some to each neighbor that has to share a wall with us with an apology note lol). I knew that if I brought him into the room, it would quiet him enough to keep the neighbors from hearing, but it would still keep us up.

Somehow, Andy had managed to fall asleep during the cacophony coming from the other room, so I made a decision as the clock hit ten-thirty.

I hauled the puppy, crate and all, into my room, next to the bed. The noise stopped as soon as I came into the living room. Bear followed me gratefully and set up camp on the other side of the bed, next to Andy. I mentally resigned myself to another uncomfortable night with my fingers stuck in Jake’s crate. But, lo and behold! Jake circled once, twice, three times, and settled down in the bottom of his crate with a sigh and went right to sleep. Without my fingers in his cage.

I experimented for a few minutes, waiting for the whine I knew was coming, asking for mommy to please reassure him that she was right there.

Not a peep.

I stuck my hand in his crate (I’m a glutton for punishment, I know).

Nothing.

I couldn’t quite believe it.

My poor baby just wanted to be near us. I’m glad I made the decision to bring him into the room.

Even better? He slept all night. I even got up about fifteen minutes before Andy’s alarm went off to use the bathroom. He didn’t move.

Andy’s alarm went off once, twice, three times (obnoxious, I know).

He lifted his head at the noise (I watched him), but then settled right back down and went to sleep.

It wasn’t until Andy actually got up and he and I started talking softly that Jake stood up in his crate. He didn’t whine or fuss though, he waited until I put on my clothes.

I pulled him out of the cage (no peeing!), took him out, and thank God hallelujah he peed and pooped outside.

Progress has been made.

He still had an accident in the house later in the morning (he loves the carpeted areas, apparently), but the way I see it is crate training might not be the best method for this particular puppy. So the only way I’m going to be able to housebreak him is watch him like a hawk (he came to work with me today) and catch him while he’s doing it. My guess is he’ll soon learn that mom will interrupt him every time he tries in the house, along with my “Ah ah ah!” noise (he’s picked that up pretty quick), and I’ve been told dogs really don’t like being lifted up off the ground when they’re using the facilities. I don’t think they like being scolded either. Oh well, thank goodness for laminate flooring. I have to be three times as careful at the office though, every room is carpeted.

Other good news:

He already knows his name.

He already knows the “sit” command (isn’t that amazing?). He picked it up from the big dog though, which was really funny.

If I make the “ah ah ah!” noise when he’s doing something he’s not supposed to, he leaves off what he was doing. Sometimes he might try again, but he gets the same result. Usually I only have to correct him two or three times for him to understand not to chew on something and he leaves it alone after that.

Yay progress! Now I just have to make sure he and Bear have a similar play session most nights so he’s too pooped to care that he’s in a crate. But I think, for the time being, we’re only going to use the crate at night since he’s already proven he can go all night without having to go out. I think this little bit of crate training (he can’t pee in there anymore without having to sit in it) along with the combination of being pretty much leash-tied to me all day and interrupted whenever he decides to eliminate somewhere he’s not supposed to will have him housebroken in no time.

Cross your fingers for me. 🙂

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Puppy Fun: Day 1

I’d forgotten how hard the first few days of owning a puppy is.

I’d also forgotten we were lucky with Bear, because he was almost completely housebroken when we got him; he had very few accidents, because he was in a foster home when we adopted him.

Last night and this morning were horrendous.

I will explain:

As if the weather had conspired against me, yesterday, a string of REALLY bad thunderstorms blew in. It started getting gusty as I was driving back from picking up Jake. It had also rained the night before. Now, the places where we can take the dogs outside are limited (for us anyway) and we also live on the second floor. Jake is just big enough to get up the stairs by himself (it takes about ten minutes) but he’s not big enough to go down. They’re also concrete steps, so I don’t want to risk him falling flat on his face and killing himself. On top of that, the only places we can take the dogs to relieve themselves, especially when it’s raining, are pure mud. And I mean sink-in-up-to-your-ankles MUD.

Now, Bear doesn’t even like to go potty outside when it’s raining. He does his thing just about as fast as it’ll leave his system and then bolt back up the stairs, me or Andy in tow.

Try convincing an untrained puppy to go outside in the rain, in the mud, in a new place.

Haha, yeah right.

I can stand out there in the rain for twenty minutes, and Jake will lay flat on the ground in front of me, whining. I’ll take him back upstairs, put him in his crate (cuz that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?) and I’ve discovered that in the two minutes it takes me to run and do something in the kitchen or use the bathroom, he’ll pee in his crate.

Wonderful.

We played with him till 11 pm last night (so about 5 hours) hoping he would be good and tuckered out for his first night in his new home. In between play sessions, we started him immediately on crate training; putting him inside for a few minutes at a time until he quieted down (the neighbors love us, I’m sure) and then letting him out again. During dinner, we put him in his crate so he wouldn’t beg. He was quiet for the most part, and then I turned around and lo and behold, he was asleep! Yes, sweet success! I was so happy, because I knew that would make nighttime sleeping easier, right?

Cue Andy and his unthinking noise.

I happened to mention I thought something was wrong with my car. It had a weird vibration when I was driving it, almost like it was misfiring.

He almost knocked his chair over in his hurry to get out the door (don’t ask me why!) and check out my car. He proceeded to slam the door shut, effectively waking the puppy, who immediately started howling to be let out.

Andy did it not once, but TWICE. And the second time, almost immediately after the screaming puppy had quieted back down again.

I wanted to throttle him.

After several more unsuccessful potty trips, including one with the big dog, we eventually shrugged and put him in his crate again. He peed. AGAIN. Luckily, I have two sets of sheets specifically set aside for the purpose of rotating them out. I’ve done several rotations already. -_-

This has led me to believe one thing: Jake has been crated before, in a small space (possibly during shipping), unable to use the bathroom anywhere except in his crate. This also make crate training much more difficult, almost impossible with an 11 week old puppy. Yikes.

Finally, we bedded down for the night. I was SO relieved that when we turned out the light, after a few reassuring words, Jake was quiet almost immediately.

For a while.

Andy purposely decided to sleep on the couch last night because he didn’t want to hear the whining/barking/howling he was sure was going to happen. I would be really super mad at him about this, except he does have to get up a lot earlier than I do, and he’s a mechanic so he needs his sleep. I’m alone in an office all day. I can live without a few extra hours.

But this wasn’t “a few extra hours.” This was most of the night. He wasn’t howling or anything. Yet. No, what he did, was whimper just enough to get my attention (I was about a foot away from him). I didn’t want it to escalate (it was in the middle of the night, after all) so I’d put my hand down through the bars of his cage. He’d lick my fingers, lie back down, and go to sleep. However, if he woke up (which was about every fifteen minutes) and my hand wasn’t there, he started whining again.

I had to keep my hand on his cage ALL NIGHT. This is not a very comfortable position to sleep in, let me tell you.

Around 3:30 (I’m guessing) I finally fell asleep.

Andy then proceeded to wake EVERYONE in the house up at 6.

He was on the couch! The door to the bedroom was shut! What on EARTH possessed him to turn on all the lights in the house, open our VERY squeaky door, and come in the room?

He left his uniform for work in the bedroom.

Once again, I could have throttled him. Because puppy and I were both sleeping. I know “sleeping in” is a luxury for at least 6 months when it comes to having a new puppy, but I could have used another hour, and it didn’t seem like Jake was going to stir anytime soon at that point. Until Andy woke him up and he decided since daddy was up, he could get up too!

Unfortunately, as soon as he was fully awake, he peed in his crate again. He made it through the whole night (I know, because I was awake for most of it), and five minutes after realizing he was awake and in a crate, he peed.

So outside we marched, back into the rain (which was nearly torrential) and after yet another unsuccessful fifteen minute potty trip, hoping to maybe see some activity on the other end (no puppy poop since I’d picked him up, I knew he had to go!!) back inside we came, hopefully to wait for five or six minutes and try again. I had yet to see the routine where if I put him in his crate, even for a second, he’d pee, so into the crate he went, and fifteen seconds later out he came after peeing again. Imagine how frustrating this had been! It’s six AM, I’m running on about three hours of sleep, I’m withstanding the urge to smack Andy for waking everybody up, and my new dog will ONLY pee in his cage (he had yet to make a mess on the floor).

Andy left, knowing I was already in a grouchy mood (I’m not a morning person). Jake, of course, was all ready to play at this point while Mommy is grumpily folding up dirty sheets and throwing them in the wash.

I turned my back for two seconds, to throw the sheets in the laundry room. I came back into the living room to discover Jake squatting on the floor, pooping.

So, like everyone says, I scooped him up and marched him outside, while he was still mid-poop, which of course ended up all over me. Fun. Once outside, he proceeded to stare at me forlornly as if asking why I’d interrupted him to bring him into the rain. Again. I bet I’m teaching him that using the bathroom means being punished in the rain. Ugh. We’re supposed to be rained on all week.

By the time we came back inside, it was almost seven. I’d spent my first hour of being awake either cleaning up after the puppy, or taking him outside to pee, only to have him do it in the house. I was already about to tear my hair out (don’t worry, I never got mad at him, I know better than to do that. He wouldn’t understand). I finally had to realize that crate training was not going to suffice in this situation, since he had basically been trained already to ONLY pee in his cage!

I have to be at work at 8:30. Luckily, my boss has given me permission to bring my animals to work with me (a godsend, and a defining factor in us getting a new dog) since I’m usually the only one there all day. That gives me plenty of opportunities to let him out, play with him, let the other dog play with him, feed him, etc. No 8 hours in a crate for my baby!

So after eating breakfast, getting dressed into something comfortable and casual (I have a laid back office, can you tell?), loading Bear and all of the cleaning supplies and treats I thought were necessary into the car, and listening to Jake squealing like a stuck pig upstairs (he was back in the crate, I figured he was all out of things to soil his sheets with), we got loaded up in the rain, and off to work we went (Hi ho, hi ho!). It took us forty-five minutes.

Here’s where it got really fun. I stopped at HEB (Texas grocery store for those of you who don’t know) to get Red Bull, cuz man was I gonna need it. The dogs stayed in the car (Jake in his pen, Bear in the back to keep him company, I would only be gone five minutes). I thought my day was looking up, they were having a 3-for-$5 sale! Score! I bought three, paid the cashier, and walked to the entrance, only to find rain I couldn’t see through coming down in sheets. It was almost 8am, and it was as dark as if it were still 6 in the morning. I debated waiting till it let up, but based on the thunder and lightning that sounded almost without pause, I knew I had to get back into the car to make sure Jake wasn’t about to have a seizure out of fear (Bear doesn’t fear much of anything, he’s been in the car in heavy rain before). So out into the waterfall I went. I walked maybe twenty feet to the car, and it was like I’d jumped into the shower with all my clothes on. There wasn’t a hair on my head that was dry. I got in the car, Jake was only whimpering, not full-on squealing like I thought he would be, and I sat in the car under that thunder and lightning and rain and had to decide if I wanted to try and drive in it, or wait it out. THEN Jake started crying (he saves his best crying for when I’m around to hear it, I think). That made up my mind. I had to get him to the office and out of his crate before I found myself with more soiled sheets that I had no way of cleaning at the office. So we pulled out of the parking lot, I put on my flashers, and off we went at ten miles an hour.

I have to cross through not one, not two, but THREE low water crossings to get to my office, plus any number of hills where water naturally collects. I drive a manual Honda Civic, a car I’m quickly starting to despise (I want a truck). I had been through this kind of rain on this very route before, hitting the same ditches and crossings, with no issues, but Andy was driving at the time.

I managed to get through two low water crossing without any trouble, keeping a careful eye on the mustang in front of me who seemed to be getting across the low water, also with no problems. Then the rain came down harder, if it was possible. I was approaching the third crossing. The mustang made it through. But within seconds that low water crossing became a river, and I was stuck right in the middle of it. I lost traction on the road, bad enough, and then my car made the most godawful shuddering, groaning noise, which panicked me. I made it to the other side, and then my car started shaking.

Every time I hit the gas, or shifted gears, it made this bad grinding noise, made the car jerk me around like a bobble head, and I just knew it was going to stall. What was worse, the smell of gas starting filtering in through my AC vents. My check engine light was flickering on and off like mad. Jake was simply screaming in the back seat. Bear had dug his claws into the front seat trying not to get thrown to the floorboards (that’s how bad the shaking was). I managed to pull into a parking lot before the engine completely died, but die it did.

Wonderful.

I think I sat there in shock for a few minutes, wondering just how much worse my day was going to get, and it was only 8am. I called Andy, my mechanic boyfriend, and, proving what a wonderful boyfriend he is, told his boss he had to leave and came to “rescue” me (not the first time, but that’s another post). In his two ton solid steel ’85 pickup truck. If it wasn’t such a POS (its name is ‘the Dent’ if that gives you a clue) I’d be jealous of him lol. In the thirty minutes (seemed like hours) it took him to get to me, I’m ashamed to admit I broke down and bawled my eyes out. Bear, being the sweetheart he is, put his head across the console and let me cry on him. Jake, thankfully, stopped howling and hunkered down in his cage. At least he knew that NOW was not the time to make mommy’s day worse. I was afraid to turn on the car to even listen to the radio, because I could still smell faint gas fumes, and didn’t know what might trigger something bad to happen.

Of course, five minutes later the rain let up, the floodwaters went down, and it was like it never happened. I wanted to scream.

When Andy got there, I got out of the car, he fired up the engine, and of course the darn thing started like a dream. He did all the mechanic things, checking for more gas fumes, checking the engine (there was water all over it). He got under the car and pulled out this giant piece of plastic which, turns out, was supposed to protect my car from being “splashed.” During the fun rafting ride, apparently it had been pulled loose and was hanging under my car by one screw. I hate cars.

We managed to get the car limping along, all the dogs were packed back up in the car, and Andy followed me home in his truck with the warning that if I stalled, he was going to push me down the road. Man, way to make a girl feel good about you following her! That’s the LAST thing I wanted. But that ended up not being necessary, thankfully, as we crawled down the road and made it back home (I was probably only a mile away). Right when we got back to the house, the torrential downpour started again, and we decided that trying to drive my car anywhere would be unwise until we figured out exactly what was wrong with it, which we couldn’t do in the rain.

So I’m “working” from home today.

Onto the better stuff, Jake has been a dream (mostly). No barking, no whining, no peeing on things he’s not supposed to.

I also had an epiphany. In my apartment, I have a covered concrete patio (we live on the second floor, remember). I saw him sniffing around, circling, like dogs do when they need to go out, so I promptly picked him up and we went out on the dry patio.

Some of you may think this is gross, but my god I was so happy to see that puppy poop on the patio! It may not be grass, but it’s definitely outside so I’ll take it! He already knows the difference between the hot and humid outside patio to the cool, airconditioned apartment. Hopefully, once it dries up we can start “real” potty training, but for now I just want him to know that going potty inside is BAD. Don’t worry, I cleaned up very quickly after that. For the rest of the afternoon, he’s been curled up at my feet (no crate, no whining, no peeing everywhere), sometimes chewing on his chew toys, playing a halfhearted game of fetch with me, annoying the big dog (quietly) and otherwise just being a model puppy citizen. Hallelujah, there’s hope for the future.

Things to remember/do about the past 24 hours:

1) It seems his eagerness to pee in his cage has something to do with the sheets I have in there. They’re all folded up so his urine is probably absorbed rather quickly, so he doesn’t feel like he’s “sitting” in it. We’re going to try with toys, without sheets for the next time.

2) He hates the crate, period. We’re going to have a fun round of “try to get the awesome treat out of your cage” reverse psychology game and try to curb him of his howling habit. Until then, I’m content for him to lay at my feet and do nothing for the time being.

3) Until the rain lets up, we’re going to have to start potty training on the patio. As gross as it is, on a concrete patio it’s a fairly easy cleanup, and it’s actually something I did with Bear when he was younger and it was raining (I lived somewhere else at the time though). When I was really really sick, the patio made a viable option instead of having to drag my diseased carcass downstairs in what was most likely my pajamas to let the dog out, and then it was easy cleanup too (seriously, it’s a lot easier to pick up poop off a flat surface than picking it out of the grass! And I was able to hose down the patio).

4) Don’t ever try to cross a low water crossing in my car ever again. Wait till I can get a truck.

5) Figure out how to get Jake to sleep through the night without resorting to putting him in bed with me (which I almost did last night) or having to keep my fingers in his cage (maybe a heating pad with my shirt on it or something?)

6) Find some time to sleep. I have a feeling Andy will be “babysitting” for a few hours when he gets home so I can take a nap.

Geez. Hopefully Day 2 will be smoother tomorrow.

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It’s official!

I just got the official word that Jake will be ready for me to pick up today at 4pm. Only 6 more hours! Well, 5 and a half really, since I have to leave the office at 3:30 to get there on time. Oh man waiting is such torture!

On to other puppy stuff though, I have been reading up on my corgi literature to alleviate the impatience a little bit. Specifically, corgi blogs. It’s awesome that there are blogs specific to corgis!

It’s not so awesome some of the stuff I read there though.

I’ve seen a few blogs where the corgi is a model of dog society. Easily trained, obedient, deferring to his owner, the “pack leader.” Maybe has an attitude sometimes, but usually backs off after a sharp word from his owner.

Then there are others who have such bad cases of small dog syndrome I want to reach through my computer screen and SHAKE the owners. Corgis, by nature, are incredibly independent, strong-willed dogs. They’re also incredibly smart. So why would you let your dog train you to, oh I don’t know, come back and let him out of his cage when he barks? Or let him nearly pull you over while on a leash?

I’ll admit, I let Bear walk in front of me when we’re on a walk, but he always leaves the leash slack. If he even thinks about pulling it tight, a sharp tug gets his immediate attention and he instantly drops back closer to me, even at my side. He also never charges the door when we get home, he always waits till I walk in first.

Jumping up on the couch without being invited, pulling hard on the leash, barking incessantly, jumping up on you…these are all traits of dominant behavior. Signs that the dog thinks that they own you.

No way. Not my dogs. Jake will be just as firmly trained as Bear was, if not more so, since Corgis are known for their stubborn and dominant traits.

It frustrates me that some of these dog owners claim to do their research (and some of them do!) and then their dog is trained in bad behavior.

Here’s a good example, things that are considered “cute” in a little dog are generally unacceptable in a larger dog. If a big dog jumps up on you, you generally tell him/her to GET DOWN! If a little dog does it, oh it’s so cute, they just want attention!

If a big dog jumps up on the couch without invite, or tries to jump into your lap, “BAD DOG!” and he’s exiled to the floor again. But when a little dog does it, it’s “Oh, he just wants attention, so cute!”

Here’s a good example, the boyfriend’s grandparents own two chihuahuas. Now, I honestly can’t stand chihuahuas, as a general rule. I don’t think they’re cute, they tend to be more mean than not, and MAN are they annoying when they bark. No offense if you own a chihuahua, of course, I know plenty of people who don’t like bigger dogs, like mine. But these two chihuahuas REALLY annoy me. If someone just walks by the front door (usually a family member, since they’re on a large section of private property), they go ballistic. But the really obvious symptom of small dog syndrome is this:

Sadie and Pablo jump up on the couch and like to sit in Andy’s grandparents’ laps. They don’t wait for permission, they just do it. Then, if anyone (and I mean anyone) comes near the grandparent in question, one or both of them will start snarling like rabid animals. And I mean vicious, teeth baring, “don’t-even-think-about-looking-this-way-funny” snarls. Now if a big dog did this, I can’t even begin to imagine the repercussions. Into the kennel, out into the yard, maybe a smack on the nose? Definitely a loud “NO.” But no, when the chihuahuas do it, it’s funny! Or cute! Do you know what them snarling at passing by people means? They’re “defending” their territory. That’s right, the grandparents have just become “territory.” It’s a dominant thing. I’m not joking! If Paw has the chihuahuas in his lap and Maw walks up to him, the dogs go nuts. Even though they’ve been married for forever, and obviously belong to each other, the dogs don’t recognize that because the behavior has not only gone unchecked, it’s been almost encouraged!

Another good example is my mom’s dog. My mom LOVES this dog, a cocker spaniel. He’s the most spoiled animal in existence. That dog gets away with EVERYTHING. If my mom shows even the slightest bit of attention to another dog (like mine), Brulee starts snarling and has even viciously attacked my dog once. Another sign of dominance. My mom belongs to him, not the other way around.

You know what else he did? He peed on me. TWICE. He was marking me as his territory! I’m a little ashamed to say he ended up being “nudged” a few feet away with the tip of my boot. I didn’t exactly ‘kick’ him per se, but I didn’t want him peeing on me either! His puppy years were spent at the house where I grew up, and I was there for the first year or two years. I was the first person to meet him besides my mom when she bought him from her breeder, so he has formed an attachment to me over the years. I try to politely tell my mom ways to curb his bad behavior, but I think she just gets a little miffed that my dog is well-behaved and hers is, well, not. Bruee’s spoiled-rottenness is a running joke in the family, generally followed by a remark from my dad about how well-behaved my dog is. I think my mom is a mixture of embarrassed and miffed when those comments come up lol. Don’t ever tell her I said so. 😉

The point of this long semi-rant is that I’m absolutely convinced that I won’t let Jake become one of these “small dogs.” And I’m absolutely terrified that he eventually might become one. Whether that’s from Andy feeding him table scraps (a big no-no in the corgi world!) to using treats to train him (which might be necessary at some point, but I’ve heard of some Corgis who won’t pee outside because there’s not a treat handy), to maybe letting him jump on the couch “once or twice” which of course turns into “all the time.” I think I’m just going to have a be a gentle but firm corgi mama and hope for the best. I’ve done the training before, Bear was hand-trained by me, it’s just been a few years and I’m nervous about working with a breed that has a completely different temperament.

Gack only 4 1/2 hours to go!! 🙂

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A second corgi update.

I don’t usually post twice in one day (or one week, usually!). I also don’t usually stay up this late (as much as I wish I could). I also hate writing posts on my iPad.

BUT.

I just received amazing news this evening that I had to share…

Jake is going to be here TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!

Wow, that’s a fast drive, and sooner than we expected. We thought it would be at LEAST Wednesday, maybe even Thursday or Friday, but not tomorrow! I’m totally not complaining, I’ve been speed talking corgi puppy facts, training, and behaviors since I walked in the door tonight (the boyfriend was about to smother me lol), and it just means I have less than 24 hours till the new addition is here with me!!!

I don’t want to turn this into a solely puppy blog, but I can’t promise I won’t post pictures tomorrow at some point. Especially meeting Bear. I can’t wait for that. 🙂

I think in the next few days though, I’m going to be posting pictures of my attempts at remodeling (as if a new puppy isn’t a big enough project!).

That’s all, enough updates for tonight, more tomorrow! 🙂

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Jake

Late news…we’re getting a new dog.

A CORGI.

This is him at 10 weeks. 😀

This is one of the pictures that the breeder sent us after we had decided we wanted to get one of her puppies. He’s on his way to being delivered to us today. 🙂

According to the breeder, he’s outgoing and quite possibly a HAM. 😉 He’s always on the run and has lots of energy. Judging by these statements, he’ll be perfect to keep Bear company. They can wear each other out instead of Andy and me. 😉

After flipping through possible names like Winston, Jack, Gatsby, Sir Bigglesworth (kidding) and several not-entirely-serious suggestions by the boyfriend, the best friend and I decided upon Jake.

Andy is tickled by this because one of his best friend’s names is Jake. He’s certain we’re naming the puppy after him. *rolls eyes*

It’s a decision made for several reason.

1) We want a companion for our resident dog, Bear. Bear is the model of dog society. He walks off leash, comes when called, doesn’t fight with other dogs, doesn’t bark unless it’s absolutely necessary, has been in great health (except for last week) and after three years, still has retained his puppy energy. Or maybe it’s just dog energy now, because he’s a retriever-husky mix (BIG dog) who has (almost) always been the model of good indoor behavior. I would have never believed a big dog like him could be such a great indoor dog, but he has been. However, he’s lonely at home. We had a temporary stint with a ferret, hoping maybe at least another warm body would help his loneliness and boredom at home. It relieved it some, but he really needs another warm doggy body to keep him company. He’s been staying with me at work the past few days, just so he’s not cooped up at home.

2) I’m having a particularly bad bout of “baby fever.” I’ve been told I wouldn’t ‘catch’ baby fever because I work and have so many other things going on for me right now, but that simply isn’t the case. It’s been growing steadily worse for a few months now, and since Bear isn’t really a puppy anymore (and Andy tends to play more roughly than mom does) he spends his days with me sleeping on the office floor and then having a rowdy time with Andy. He loves on me occasionally, but only when he feels like it or wants something. Silly doggy.

3) This one’s a double whammy: boredom+trouble kicking the nicotine habit. I started smoking back when I was 18 or 19 (maybe younger) and haven’t really been able to completely quit since. Mostly, this is because of boredom. Since I finished my first book, I’ve been hesitant to finish the second. I’ve all but stopped drawing/sketching/painting, and I haven’t touched an instrument in months, except when begged by friends/family to perform. The boredom/lack of inspiration for the new book/characters/music etc caused me to light up more often than maybe before. I quit for a few months last year, then after a bad week picked it right back up again. The fun thing is, even just in the past few weeks while I’ve been preparing for the new arrival (puppy-proofing the house, buying puppy things, cleaning to make sure he doesn’t eat anything yucky) I have had little to no desire to take a smoke break. I’ve literally started to quit cold turkey. Now, I’m not perfect, I’ve bummed a cigarette or two from the next door neighbor at work, but even now I have no desire to do that. I’m more interested in looking up corgi puppy videos when the nicotine craving hits. 😉

Couple the buying puppy things with the baby fever thing and you have a warped sense of “nesting.” In conjunction with the puppy toys and bowls and treats I’ve been compulsively buying from the store, I’ve just as often been found in the home improvements section looking at paint and home decor. Somebody stop the madness! While taking on a new puppy isn’t new for me (and will be infinitely easier than it was with Bear because I’m allowed to bring him to work with me), taking on a new puppy AND trying to remodel the apartment we just moved into is definitely trying to bite off more than I can chew. Tell that to the baby fever/nesting part of my brain though.

I haven’t been so excited about an animal since I got Bear. When I saw Bear, I just KNEW I had to have him. When I saw Jake…same thing. I’ve been talking incessantly about dog training tips, the possibility of agility classes, and the schedule we’re going to have for a few months to Andy. I think he wants to invest in ear plugs. When I’m not talking about puppies, I’m talking about cleaning (CLEANING of all things! Me! Cleaning? I haven’t seen the flying pigs yet, but I’m expecting their appearance any time now) and painting and all the things I want to do to the apartment. I just about die of excitement every time I see the Corgi cage in the living room with his little food bowl in front of it.

I’ve been missing the bonding experience of puppy training (even though it’s SO hard in the beginning). Bear is and always will be my baby, and he knows it, but he doesn’t really “depend” on me like a puppy does. Though I will be very excited to see how he reacts to the newest member of our family! I have a feeling housetraining is going to go much smoother than the first time around, because Jake will get his cues from Bear, who will be higher in the “pack hierarchy” than he is. I’ve been told they look a lot alike. Not quite true, Bear is golden blonde while Jake is red and white, but I think the similarities will mark them as “siblings” somewhat. 🙂

Like I said, the breeder is supposed to be shipping him today, and the anticipation is KILLING me! I can’t wait to hold him for the first time. 🙂

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Freedom vs. Independence

It took me two days to decide how to best write this post. It took me this long because I knew I’d be touching upon sensitive subjects, especially within the U.S. But, considering the date (Happy 4th everyone!), I knew I needed to write something, especially given the political uproar from last week.

Healthcare. Taxes. History. Liberty. Freedom. Independence.

Surprisingly enough, those last three are not as similar as we think they are. I’m going to start with those definitions and elaborate before really jumping into the first three, which I think are more synonymous than the last.

Let’s start with Freedom. Freedom is “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” Simple enough, right? America is a “free” nation, or so we’ve been saying for two centuries. It’s why I’m allowed to write whatever I think or feel on this blog, and no one can tell me to stop. No one can tell me it’s against the law for me to voice my opinion. Some people won’t like it, that’s inevitable. But no one can tell me it’s outside my rights to post my words, offensive or otherwise, if I feel like it. So many other countries don’t allow that right. As Americans, we are blessed with the freedom to make our own choices.

Moving on to Independence. Probably my favorite word of the three. There are several definitions of Independence, which I’m getting from my handy dictionary.

1 free from outside control; not depending on another’s authority

a) (of a country) self-governing

b) not belonging to or supported by a political party

c) not influenced or affected by others; impartial

2 not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence

a) capable of thinking or acting for oneself

I just love definition 2. And I’m proud to be considered “independent” when so many others aren’t. I also love that definition 2a is being capable of thinking or acting for oneself. Does the lack of independence in one’s livelihood or subsistence lead to a lack of that capability? I love the definition of “independent” as a whole. I’m no psychologist, but I’m fairly certain that independence is a natural part of being human. As teenagers, we being to break with our parents, forming our own identities. How many of you have fought for your independence as teens? I know I certainly did. Because of that, it almost shocks me that so many people go from being ‘independent’ teenagers to ‘dependent’ adults, relying on someone or something else to provide for them. We as Americans are blessed in that we are free from outside control. We don’t depend on another’s authority, like England. Our forefathers made sure that we were as independent a nation as possible, breaking with England so that by becoming an independent nation, we the people could have freedom.

And finally, Liberty. We’re told in the Declaration of Independence (or rather, we told England) that we the people of the United States of America have the right to life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness. I think this is my favorite word of the three. Especially because Thomas Jefferson chose the word LIBERTY as opposed to freedom or independence.

1 the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views : compulsory retirement would interfere with individual liberty.

• (usu. liberties) an instance of this; a right or privilege, esp. a statutory one : the Bill of Rights was intended to secure basic civil liberties.

• the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved : people who have lost property or liberty without due process.

• ( Liberty) the personification of liberty as a female figure.

2 the power or scope to act as one pleases : individuals should enjoy the liberty to pursue their own interests and preferences.

That first statement should clearly show where my arguments are headed, but I will elaborate here. By Thomas Jefferson’s own hand, he clearly states that liberty is an unalienable right. That no authority within society has the right to impose restrictions on our way of life, our behavior, or our political views. Thomas Jefferson issued that statement to King George. You do not have the right to restrict our way of life. Thomas Jefferson declared liberty as a basic human right. The United States of America became an independent nation, granting its people the freedom to make their own decisions, and the right to the liberty from oppressive restrictions within society, imposed by authority.

Freedom refers to the individual. Independence refers to the nation. And liberty refers to basic rights.

I’m so proud to be an American.

But, “freedom don’t come free.”

Thomas Jefferson states in the Declaration of Independence “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

In layman’s terms, yes. It would be easier to just continue to suffer under an out-of-control government. But it is our right and duty to remove them and put new ones in their place.

Can’t think of a more accurate description of what’s going on here.

I’m providing an abridged list of the grievances that Jefferson and his fellows claimed against King George. Some of them might sound a bit familiar.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

I could probably specifically parallel similar grievances in this day and age, but I will refrain; relying on the intelligence of my readers to draw their own conclusions.

I finally come to the heart of my post, which is the healthcare ruling last week.

I must preface my argument by saying that I do not believe our healthcare system is perfect. I do believe that it could be improved. But I cannot ignore that we possess some of the best healthcare in the world, and it is because it has been allowed to thrive without any interference from our government. Preexisting condition coverage and the ability to keep children on their parents’ insurance are both wonderful (I have benefitted from this myself), but the violation of our personal liberty cannot be ignored here. I will start from the beginning. The issue was not preexisting condition coverage of children’s insurance, but the mandate that all Americans MUST purchase health insurance or face a fine. Based on my previous definitions of liberty, does that not seem like a breach? Does that not violate our right to liberty (no oppressive restrictions from authority), or our freedom (making decisions without restraint or hindrance), or our independence (free from outside control)? Based on these three words, which are used in their proper forms many times within the two most important documents in American history (the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence), the healthcare law is a violation of basic human rights that we as Americans have been taught make up the foundation of our country.

But the mandate was not even voted upon by our judiciaries. It was instead passed as a “tax.” But wait…I don’t believe the Judicial branch has the right to tax. That’s a job given to the legislative and executive branches, not the judicial. Congress must pass the tax, and the Executive branch is responsible for collecting it. Does that mean that the Supreme Court’s ruling was not only unlawful, but also null and void? Because the question was not of a tax, it was the constitutionality of the individual mandate to buy insurance. I’m not a political science major, or a lawyer, or anyone who has studied these laws, checks and balances, but even I can see that this does not seem right. Shouldn’t that mean that Congress should be expected to rewrite this healthcare bill, specifying that anyone without health insurance must pay an additional tax of 1% on their income? This doesn’t even bring into question the statement that Obama made saying he would not tax any family making under $250,000 a year. It has nothing to do with what he did or didn’t say. I’ve learned from this President that regardless of what he says, he will eventually contradict himself later. I trust nothing he says. But this has nothing to do with that! This healthcare law was born in the dead of night under questionable circumstances, and now this tax has been born under similar questionable circumstances. This is a mockery of the checks and balances that our forefathers put in place in 1776, and a double violation of our liberty. Not only are we being instructed that we MUST buy health insurance, we will be taxed if we don’t.

If Congress told us that they wanted to do away with all the older vehicles in the U.S., and that all Americans must buy a vehicle created within the past eight years, that would be bad enough. People would riot. But if Congress not only said we had to buy new cars, but if we DIDN’T purchase a new car, a 1% tax would be added to our income, Americans would overthrow our current government. Or how about this? In order to use the internet, we had to have a specific internet company. We could use the internet with our old companies if we liked, but we would be taxed 1% because we failed to use a specific internet company. See where I’m going with this?

People try to compare auto insurance with health insurance. It’s not the same! If you don’t purchase car insurance, should you get pulled over or in an accident, you’ll be arrested or fined. There’s a stipulation there. It also is a requirement ONLY if you have a car. Auto insurance is a proof of financial responsibility if you were to get in an accident. You are expected to be responsible while driving, and if you’re not responsible while driving, you at least will be financially responsible for any damage you cause. But you are not taxed if you own a car but don’t have car insurance on it. Certainly, there are consequences for not having it if you get in an accident, but there are consequences for not having health insurance if you were in an accident (such as having to pay for all your doctor bills in full). It is NOT the right of the government to mandate that we purchase anything, much less tax us or penalize us for not purchasing something.

Let me glance into the future for a minute, and then wrap up this incredibly long post.

Already, citizens of the United States of America have given up their independence, even their freedom. But until now, we have not had to give up our liberty. These citizens, for whatever reason, would rather remain dependent on the government for their food, housing, and money. This happens at the expense of America’s citizens who would rather declare their own independence and live unhindered by the government.

In 2014, when this entire healthcare overhaul goes into effect, because the government has started to think it has the right to dictate what we should and should not buy, it will also come to the conclusion that poorer families will not be able to afford this mandate. It will then mandate, by taxes, that we, the truly independent citizens of the United States of America, must become responsible for those who have, for some reason or another, given up their independence. Then, no citizen of the United States REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE PURCHASED INSURANCE , will be exempt from paying taxes on this healthcare plan. We will either pay the 1% on our yearly income because we have not purchased insurance, or we will pay taxes on our regular income to pay for the insurance that this mandate will make unaffordable to the poorer families in our nation. It will become another form of welfare, another way for the United States government to create dependence among its people, and another way for the government to tax not only those in violation of its latest mandate, but those who are not.

Subtle, yet effective. And incredibly terrifying.

While this is not set in stone, look at history, especially the history of welfare, and you will be able to see that this is a definite possibility, if not an inevitability, if this healthcare bill/tax/mandate/whatever the government is calling it today is allowed to remain.

Reflect on this, this Independence Day, and decide just how independent we really are, and how independent we want to stay. Freedom does NOT come free. Our forefathers fought with flesh and blood to free us from the tyranny of England, and now, we the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, must fight a much more subtle and much more difficult battle of politics and diplomacy.

Remember why our forefathers broke from England. Keep in mind the careful use of the words they wrote when they declared their independence.

I’m proud to be an American. I’m even more proud to consider myself free, independent, and liberated.

Happy July 4th!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

-Declaration of Independence

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