Puppy Diaries: New Food

Day 35
May 26, 2013

New Foodies 

Mulan models the new bags of food

My dogs typically eat a smorgashboard of kibbles. I'm not one to commit to one particular brand when it comes to my dachshunds. Variety is the spice of life IMO; and it keeps them from getting picky. I tend to keep my food standard at brands that can't be purchased at Walmart, and have had them on Natural Balance, Purina Pro Plan, Wellness, Back to the Basic's etc. However I have noticed Bubbles' digestive system was having a rough time on Natural Balance, and the puppies who were on Science Diet have been itching and scratching non-stop lately. So I've decided to go back to Wellness for the next few months and see if we can all get back on track.

I'm a fan of Wellness as its what I first changed my dogs to back when I realized what a big role food played in my dogs behavior. Bubbles lost weight and had a lot more energy, Texas stayed at a good weight and I think the puppies will benefit from not having so much grains in their diet.

Wellness we're back! :)

$$$$$$$$

Each Moment

4 year old Bubbles BT (Before Texas) 

We had a bit of a scare earlier this year.
David had gone for a "puppy camp" for a couple of weeks and the dachshunds were acting down right ornery. Whining and complaining about EVERYTHING, as they are want to know when life as they know it goes through any sort of upset.

However, when Bubbles started drinking water like it was going out of style, I began to get concerned, and thoughts from the online community (although helpful) were really having me worried. So I sucked it up and took her into work with me to get her checked out.

I was a bit concerned that she would freak out about begin the kennels but she was perfectly fine, and actually was sleeping whenever I went to check on her.  They ran blood work, which came back mostly normal, but no signs of diabetes (and now having seen blood work of dogs with diabetes I can definitely verify she's in a good range.) So we decided to approach it from a behavioral stand point and restrict her water to daytime hours, and remove it during the night.

The first night was hard, and I eventually caved, seriously this dog can whine for HOURS (or so it feels!). I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to really tell what was going on if I didn't follow the instructions so I crated her the next night. (which was hard on me) and then after that began to soak her food, so i KNEW she was getting some water.

The Vet had asked me if anything had changed in her life in the last few weeks, and the only thing was David leaving, but I didn't think it would effect her that deeply... but apparently it had, as soon after he arrived home, she's been back to her normal lazy self.

We all breathed a sigh of relief, but only temporary as we're faced with his immanent departure in about a month ... sigh. Guess I may *HAVE* to get another puppy after all. :)

 

Yeah, She's Fired

So I'm thinking of firing my mom as our blog manager. I mean two whole months of no posts is completely unacceptable. I mean there is really no excuse to not be posting about me, myself and I every minute of the day.

I mean, I would if *I* were my human!

I mean, yeah she's got a couple of valid excuses like starting a full-time job as a vet receptionist, and no longer owning a computer, but COME ON, we live in the age of smart phones, and smart cars, and smart.. well you get the point. There is no excuse not to at least post pictures of my awesomeness to the blog, right?

So what have I been up to in the last few months? Honestly, nothing really, with mom working all the live long day, I spend a lot of my time patrolling the house, keeping birds at bay (we've had TWO in this house, mom was not happy that I tore up another set of blinds, but HEY I was keeping her safe. Geez woman.)

David's been going with mom to her work place, but me and Bubbles can't cause we're not up to date on our vaccines. I know, I know ... eeek. Except well, Mom's not so sure all those vaxs are all they are cracked up to be. So! There is that. Which is fine, cause I don't really like going places like that ANTIWAYS.

What you guys been up too?

Togetherness

...1...2...3..little doggies

Sometimes... I'm pretty sure I do run a kennel. 

Current Dog Count: 5 

I'm sure you guys remember Lacy. She's a regular around here, but in the last few days Lacy has gained a sister! Stella is their newest family member and is quite stressed to be here. Hopefully she'll calm down over the next couple of days. Which since they'll be in the care of my awesome dog sitter will be nothing more than a "hope" for me. :) 

-Erin 

First Ever Sighting!

A rare sighting of a dapple, black and tan dachshund! 

Otherwise known as.. 

An encounter with a baker. 

#AugustDogDays - Day 6

TREAT TIME!!

Bubbles

12 year old Bubbles gives me stink eye for interrupting her nap. 

Family Portrait

Family Portrait

Wordless Wednesday

Walkies: Episode 2

Texas on the Porch

Having two dogs in the house, has made me extremely lazy, I will admit that. Well, I should say, having two lazy dogs in the house, as made me lazy. However, when my neighbor needed to use my computer while I was gone, I decided yesterday was as good as day as any, to take the dachshunds out on the town. So I loaded up their crate, and off we went. Let me tell you, they were NOT happy about being crated in the car, but it had to be done, if I wanted Texas to be any semblance of calm, once we arrived at our final destinations.

For Mr. Reactivity, sitting in the car, increases the likelihoods of him becoming extremely reactive, people walking around, dogs, birds, etc, will elicit an extreme reaction from him, to the point that if someone were to stick their hand in my car, they would get bitten. (If he were in there of course)

Hence the crate. I quickly discovered, that if I played music, they would quiet down, but listening to a book-on-tape, brought to mind, how much they could be missing, by not being in my lap, and the chorus of whining would resume. Needless to say, we were jamming on our way to the park. After a quick stop at a local pet store for more harnesses, (as our old ones have "mysteriously disappeared" .. Texas left the house with one on, came back a few minutes later without it. Haven't seen it since!) and another bag of dog food... and we were on our way.

Getting out of the car, took the most time, first I had to wait until they stopped whining and jumping around, then I had we practiced not lunging out of the crate as soon as the door was opened. Bubbles won, so she got out first, then we did another, longer round with Texas, until he too "got it" and sat quietly until I opened the door all the way.

Once that was accomplished, we harnessed up, watered up and prepared to start on our way.  However, the dachshunds, always on the look out for trouble, spotted some, in the form of a furry white dog, jogging with his owner.

ATTACK! DOG ALERT! INTRUDER! HE WAS LOOKING AT ME!

"Texas. Bubbles"

Huh? Wha? Treats? Cool.

I was surprised, and impressed at how quickly they redirected. All that work is worth something after all!

The park where we were, had several walking trails, most paved, but there was one that went through the woods.. perfect for my reactive dog, but to get to it, we'd have to walk around the dog park. I was mentally preparing for a fencing fighting scenario, but none came. Some of the dogs ran along side, but Texas & Bubbles ignored them.

WHY CAN'T THEY DO THIS AT HOME!?!?

We did practice sitting, as a jogger dashed by and continued on our walk. It wasn't until we were on our way back, that the ultimate trigger descended upon us, in the form of a loose dog.

Now I live in the country, so an off leash dog, isn't an huge cause for alarm in my book, I was more concerned about what Texas would do, to said dog rushing him, than I was about the dog attacking us. Turned out I was wrong to be concerned, not only did Bubbles & Texas come back to my side without even hackling, the dog in question, checked out the scene and decided that there were other things to do besides pester these little guys.

Never have I been more proud of my guys.

Seriously? A large dog rushed us, and my dogs turn to me for treats?

WHO ARE YOU GUYS AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY DOG?

Once the owners got control of their way-ward animal, we were able to walk past them, and another dog without any problem.

By this time, Bubbles was definitely winded and ready to stop. I wanted to put her up and continue with Texas, but decided to end the afternoon on a high note.

Why Yes, I think we'll do this more often!

Erin




Check out My other Blogs: Big News on Chronicles of a Puppy Walker | Life is ... going.. at Life of a College Student.

An Understanding

You Have dog treats, I'm a dog...what's the hold up?

Can an old dog learn new tricks? To be sure, but not without much patient understanding on the part of the owner. Right now we're teaching Bubbles to "Stay" something she will do, only at the door. Its a slow process to be sure, unlike teaching Texas who picks up things quickly, Bubbles requires multiple sessions going over the same thing.

One of these day's she'll get it.

Happy New Year!

Four days late, into the new year, and we've already had our first furry visitor, and a new one at that! 


This is Snowy, whose breed and age we have no clue about. The original plan was to feed & care for her at their house, as
I'd just arrived home from a trip, two days ago, and wanted to give Bubbles and Tex a chance to settle back in at home. (They stayed with a friend's house while I was gone.) 


I was feeling confident in my decision to let her hang out on her own turf, after it took me thirty minutes to convince her, I wasn't a dog-eating-human. However the weather had other plans. During the night, it snowed, maybe a half an inch, no big deal right? 


Wrong. 


While the road's by my house were clear, the roads leading to Snowy's abode, where coated with snow, and ice. Now you have to understand, in order to get to the N********'s Family Home, you must drive up and over two hills, across a bridge, and around a steep turn, that has a huuuuge drop off, and once you make it past that, you must drive down another hill, filled with curves, drop off's and what not. By the time I made it around the first steep turn (with the drop off) I knew I wasn't about to attempt, going downhill in my little car. So I turned around and CREPT back to "safety" only to find, I was in between two hills. Two hills that did not want my car to climb it. 

After several attempts I pulled into a subdivision, parked my car, and did what any child would do. Called my dad. 

However as we were talking, I watched car after car attempt the hills. Some made it on the first try, while others had to back up, gather their courage and gun it again. After about twenty minutes, with no check in's from my father, I decided to try it again. The fifth time is the charm apparently, though my wills spun, I kept my foot steady on the accelerator and we made it over the hill. Never have I been so happy to get out of a place. 


So I went home, took a nap, and then with the sun shining I went back, and decided that Snowy was going to come home with me. Now for the fun part. Introducing the dogs. 

There are a lot of awesome tips when it comes to introducing strange dogs into your home, some include: "Make sure both dogs are on a leash" or " Take the dogs on a walk “together” – single file" - great suggestion if you have another person readily available. 


I don't. 

So I have to come up with alternative ways of introducing the dogs, ideally If I know there is a point in time, where I MAY watch someone else's dog, I'll ask to meet at a park or something. 

To date, this has never happened, but it's a good idea! :) 

Lately I've divided my single wide into half, double gating my dogs away from the new dog, they can see and hear each other, but the distance is too great to encourage things like fence fighting. Which SOMEONE is apt to do.

I walked Snowy in the front door of my house, hopped the gates, and let my dogs out the back door; giving her about thirty minutes to adjust to the house sans dogs. Then I brought my dogs back in, and immediately began watching for behavior out of Texas I could reward. Aka him quietly looking through the gate. 

Though he did do quite a bit of barking, I was able to reward him several times, for simply looking through the gate and looking back at me. 

Yesss! 

After about an hour of separation, I occupied Texas in his crate with a Kong, and let Bubbles into the second gated area to meet the new dog. Bubbles is normally the best "meet & greeter" and SOMETIMES can help set the tone for Texas. I'd forgotten that Snowy's owner's have watched her in the past, so they basically could have cared-less about the other. This having gone well, I decided to release Snowy into area #2. After filling my pockets with treats, I went and released Texas into area #1, leaving the gate between him and Snowy. 

He saw Snowy.

Treats rained down from heaven.

He sniffed at Snowy.

More treats rained. 

He looked at Snowy. 

More treats. 

No growls, barks, or snarls. 

I removed the gate. 

Snowy sniffed Him.

He stood quietly.

More treats. 

After this, I put on Snowy's leash and we all walked around the cul-de-sac a bit before, returning to the house. This is only the second time, I've done this sort of thing, to introduce Texas to a new (bigger) dog, and I must say, I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before! Its obvious if I want him to change his behavior, I need to REWARD what I like. It has gone so much better than, constantly pulling him off the other dog. 

Seeing success in this area, just encourages me as we work towards our other goals with him! :) 

But back to Snowy, by that evening, Miss Snowy had settled in, and was making herself at home. There were a couple snarky moments, as Snowy has an interesting play style, that consists of smacking her paws into her playmates face. Something Texas did NOT appreciate. But over all, she's doing fine. 

I think we may see more of Snowy in the future. :) 

Happy Birthday Bubbles!

Bubbles, on my bed looking out of the window

Happy 12th (?) Birth and Gotcha Day! 

Ok so we really don't know that its her birthday, but we do know that 9 years ago, today Missy-Moo became our families' first pet. Never did she/we imagine how many dogs she would mentor in the coming years.  At 11, Bubbles in content to sleep the day away in her crate, or the couch.   Her tolerance of the dogs is becoming smaller and smaller, which I figure may be due to fact that they will run over her if she's in the way. So I'm working hard on make sure she doesn't have to deal with them if possible. :) 

She still gets around pretty well, and enjoys chasing the occasional squirrel. 

Here's to hoping to many more years! 

The War Between the States

Meet Georgia. 

This photo is a representation of Georgia. 

A rough and tough Yorkie-poo, who came to live with our neighbors several months ago. At almost eight months old, she has quickly made her presence around the neighborhood well known. Like most little dogs, Georgia is one rough and tough little girl, and is not about to let Texas upsurp her claim on being the loudest, meanest dog around. 

Well except that she hasn't bitten anyone.. yet... 

Prior to Georgia's arrival, Rusty the big dopey golden retriever, was the one who got picked up by Texas. 

A representation of the dog known as Rusty.

Texas + Big Dogs = PUBLIC ENEMY #1 

***Please no one tell him he's been living with a big dog for.....his entire life, it might just crush his already shattered ego..

Rusty would slip under his fence into our yard, and happily lope around, with Texas and Bubbles hot on his heels, ready to vanquish the foe. Once Texas got a mouthful of Fur and Rusty didn't do anything, Texas would wander off and do whatever, while Rusty pounced on poor unsuspecting Pompei. (at the time.) 

However, since Georgia has entered the picture, for one, they both stay in the yard more, and two, Texas is not so eager to go and tell them what's up. Why?

Because Georgia has no qualms about chasing him right back and nipping him if need be.  

Texas has tried only a couple of times, to venture in their yard, before deciding the punishment risk was too great, and that he can bark just as easily from the other side of the fence. Its kind of amusing to see him get a taste of his own medicine..

The squalling that emits from this dog is nothing short of girly. 

The big wimp. 

Rusty and Georgia escaped their confines and were terrorizing my dogs with their presences
:)

Remember Lacy?

She's back for the week while her peoples are gone on a vacation. Her has a boy named Fisher who loves, loves, loves, loves, her so he was really, really, really, really, sad to leave her wit us. So mom has to send him pictures of her on her cell phone,so he is not too sad about her stayin behind. He told his mom that he wanted to stay at mom's house with Lacy too. But mom had to say no cause he couldn't stay in a crate while she was gone. BOL! 
Lacy is only two years older then me, but she doesn't like to play much. I tried to get her too, but we just bounced around each other than laid down and went to sleeps. 


Even Rob is bein a good boy around her, mom was afraid he's harrass her to death like he does me an Bubbles, but he hasn't so yay for that. 


Ummm yep I think that its. OH! Yeah mom did FINALLY let me ride wit her and Rob when they went to give something to a lady so that was cool. How was your weekend?

Lacy's first night here. Making herself at home

Lacy really likes moms bed. But she isn't allowed there any longer

Rob and Lacy checking out the yard

Me given her the "grand tour"

Me and Rob

Her and Bubbles on the couch