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Sunday, February 27, 2011

A Nice Surprise

Friday's mail included Duncan's APDT Rally Level 1 certificate. I knew he would eventually be getting that, but what I didn't expect was a second certificate. Duncan also received an APDT Award of Excellence - Level 1. How cool is that? I checked the rules, and its because his qualifying scores were above 190. Poor pup, he has no idea how high he's set the bar for himself. I don't see why he can't get an Award of Excellence for Level 2 in May....

Monday, February 21, 2011

Big Ol' Mishmash

First, THANK YOU, JOHN! After much pulsing, grinding and thwaping (the truck, not me), John came over Sunday and replaced the brake pads and rotors. Once the grinding started, John told me to just keep driving the truck until he had time to work on it. But, as he said, he forgot what an over-achiever I am. One of the brake pads still had a little bit of pad left, but on the other three I'd gone through the pad, past the rivets, and down to the backing plate. At least no one can say we got rid of perfectly good brakes...

Second, Reyna had her Hospitality Pet training session at WakeMed today. Reyna is officially a therapy dog, complete with her own photo ID. We've been assigned to the cardiac floor and the pediatric floor, and we'll be going once a week for two hours (currently Thursday mornings). One thing I noticed today is that the sicker the patient appears to be, the more worried Reyna is. I'm sure she'll start to relax as she becomes accustomed to her new job.


Third, since Reyna had to have a bath in preparation for her hospital visit, everyone else got baths, too. Reyna was not enthused, but she was a good girl.


Duncan was even less enthused, but hey, its Duncan.


(My camera started fogging up here....) Kodiak either enjoyed the bath or was just too petrified to move. Either way, he was the easiest of the three.


They were all much happier once they were outside in the sunshine.


Reyna and Duncan took hours to dry. Those darn undercoats may protect them from the elements, but they also hold the water like you wouldn't believe.



For a little bit, Kodiak reminded me of those dogs that look like they have dreadlocks. He was dry in less than an hour - no undercoat at all on that pup.


Fourth, some cuteness. A few days ago, Duncan inserted himself on the couch between me and Kodiak. Kodiak wasn't too sure how to handle that. He tried resting his head on Duncan, but that didn't work.


He kept popping up and shifting around to try new positions.


Kodiak was also worried about Reyna, because I was fussing at her about chewing on her tail. That didn't help him settle down any, either.


He finally tried to go to sleep leaning against the back of the couch. No joy there.


After a while, Reyna got tired of the whole thing and kicked both boys off the couch so she could take a nap.


Fifth, group herding, which will be posted later...

Monday, February 14, 2011

Congratulations, It's A Boy!

It's official - Kodiak is the newest member of the family! His adoption is final on Valentine's Day, so we just had to celebrate.

As we always do when we have something to celebrate, we got a pup cake from Gourmutt's Bakery. Its the perfect size for the pups to share. We went with Valentine's Day colors in honor of the holiday (even though we had our party a day early). From now on, though, we'll celebrate Kodiak's Gotcha Day on December 3rd, as that's the day he came into our lives.


Kodiak wasn't too sure of the new and scary item at first. He finally decided he liked the cake, but he was never very comfortable with the plate.


See how he's leaning away from the plate? Silly puppy...


But he makes up for his silliness with some serious cuteness.




Duncan came over to offer his support (and to help eat the cake).


Finally, Kodiak was almost relaxed even with the plate so close.


Getting my pack together.


Don't kid yourself - this picture was hard to coordinate.


Thanks to the pups' Aunt Mary, everyone got to open presents! Kodiak thought he was scared of the plate - turns out the gift bag and tissue paper were absolutely terrifying! The squeaky toy was good, though...




I'm really excited about having Kodiak join the family. Reyna and Duncan like him (well, Duncan has a bit of sibling jealousy, but that's normal considering he was the baby of the family for 5 years) and he's definitely wriggled his way into my heart. I have high hopes for this pup, once we get him past his terror of cars, thresholds, packs of toilet paper, paper plates, gift bags, chairs, tissue paper, neighbors, plastic bags, stock sticks, loud noises, fast movements, and a few other odds and ends. He's come a long way since December 3rd and I have no doubt that he'll go even farther.

Welcome to the family, little boy!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

There's A Mouse In My Pocket

Well, actually, it was under my sink. The other day, I noticed a few things under the sink that weren't there before. I didn't spend three and a half years investigating crimes scenes for nothing, you know. I know evidence when I see it. It took a couple of days, but last night I heard the snap of a successful mouse trapping. All three dogs glanced over towards the kitchen and then went back to what they were doing. I have to admit, I'm a bit disappointed in them. Duncan is the Mole Eradicator, after all, but maybe mice are too small to interest him. And with Reyna's personality quirks, I figured she'd be ripping the cabinets off the hinges to get to a warm snack. As for Kodiak, well, he can't find a hot dog on a bare floor...

Friday, February 11, 2011

More Baby Girl

Poor Reyna's just having a rough go lately. I'm glad the temps are warming up for the next couple of days because she's definitely having some hip trouble. Two incidents today certainly aren't helping. She was outside playing with her basketball this afternoon and she stepped wrong when she turned - her foot got stuck in position and didn't move with her like it should have. I actually heard her yelp, which is very unlike her. Not much later, she was inside chasing her tail and her foot got snagged on the television stand. Once again, her foot didn't move with the rest of her body and she yelped. She even cried a bit trying to get on the couch after dinner, it was such a struggle for her. I'd get her some steps for the couch and her chair if I thought she'd actually use them.

In other Reyna news, I was pleasantly surprised by her behavior this afternoon. I was putting away groceries when I heard the cats start yowling and growling in the back of the house. I figured they were snarking at each other (as they so often do), so I took my time getting back there. As I turned down the hall, I realized the baby gate was on the floor and Reyna wasn't with the other dogs. When I turned towards the bedroom, I saw what was going on. Reyna was sitting very quietly just at the bedroom door. Loki, Belle and Mikey were all growling at her from various locations, but she wasn't responding at all. She was just watching them. I was so pleased with her that I gave her lots of praise and a cookie for being such a good girl.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Baby Girl

Poor Reyna, she's having a rough time with me back at work. Of course, I'm having a rough time with it, too - so glad it ends April 18. Don't even get me started on what I'm dealing with every day...can you say "entitlement attitude?" I knew you could.

Anyway, back to Reyna. She's really enjoyed having me home and a lot of her behavioral issues have gone away or toned down considerably. Unfortunately, some of those issues are coming back now that I'm gone a lot during the day. She's started chewing on her tail again, and the spinning and barking is getting worse. I'm not sure what to do about this, since I do need an income. I guess the best choice would be a job where I could take her with me or have a scattered schedule so that I'm not gone for 9 hours at a time. Anyone need a dog walker? I'm sure we could work out a fair rate.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Good News

Kodiak had his pediatric wellness exam Friday, and I'm pleased to report that he's a very healthy pup. Well, Doc actually said Kodiak was hideously sick and probably wouldn't survive the trip home and so I should really leave him there. But I'm pretty sure Doc just wanted to keep Kodiak. The pup does have two slightly discolored teeth, which could be enamel hypoplasia or the result of getting knocked in the face on his way out of the birth canal. Doc initially thought it was the enamel hypoplasia (which could mean bad things in the future), but he decided that since its only two teeth, it was more likely to be the knock in the face (definitely the preferred option). Kodiak was nervous about going in (all those doors!) but once I put him up on the exam table he relaxed. He tried to help the vet tech type his info into the computer, and he was wonderful about tolerating the exam. He even ate the cookies Doc gave him. So, Kodiak's about 7 months old and he weighed in at 29 pounds. Doc said he'll be anywhere between 30 and 110 pounds. But he's guessing closer to 50. We'll see how much he grows over the next month.

In other news, Kodiak has finally figured out how to get on the couch and he's taking full advantage of that. He still has to get a running start, but he's slowly gaining the skill to jump up from a stand. He's a nice middle ground between Duncan and Reyna - he doesn't need to be in my lap like Duncan, but he also doesn't get up and leave when I pet him like Reyna. The downside of his new-found ability - he has to learn to leave everything on the end table and counter alone. He'll get there.