I Hate Weekends Like This

I just don't get why the dogs aren't getting along this time. They really should be a good match for each other, but that just doesn't seem to be the case. As of last night, everyone is getting to play only with themselves. Play time is taking twice as long and no one is having any fun - including me.

Tippy can't play with any little dogs, his owner warned me that he will "go after" anything smaller than himself. Good to know, and nice that I didn't have to figure it out on my own.

I was planning on Booker and Tip wearing each other out. They play okay for awhile then suddenly Tippy turns on the aggression and Booker looks worried. I haven't come up with a technique to stop this behavior and I never saw it on The Dog Whisperer. My only choice is separation.

But Ziggy showed up and I figured three in a dog pile should spread the energy out. Nope, Tippy and Booker teamed up on poor Zig. Ziggy gives up and heads for his kennel. We had a bit of peace and fun after that as Lucinda and Booker were whipping around the play yard.

But now the bad behavior has spread. Rocko is tormenting the new guys. Tippy can't be with anyone other than his brother Tank. And Booker has become as aggressive in his play as Tippy, so he is soloing also. Booker and Tessie are barking non stop at each other, so they also have to be separated.

I am actually having to let each dog out alone, like all the other kennels do.


I am starting to dread playtime.

Roxy is Our Resident Wild Thing!

So Many new Friends...

..To Smell!

The Big, The Little, The Downright Crazy

I have quite the mix this weekend.

The Little
I have Daisy who is about two and half pounds of all bark. It truly is an amazing amount of noise that comes out of something so small.

The Big
With a name like 'Muffin', I was expecting a dog about the size of Daisy. He is just a really big 'Muffin'. He makes up for Daisy, since he doesn't bark at all. Muffin is the fluffy one of my set of blonds, Shane and Henry are the other two and Beau is our other little one.

The Crazy
This would be Lucinda, who is all energy, no steering, little manners, and can't seem to remember exactly who she is playing with.

My Pill Giving Skills Seem to be Deteriorating

I have lost my touch. First, I forgot Eunice's cheese chunk to hide her half and pill in. I figure I can use the gray from her dinner, no problem. Problem, she just licked that pill clean and returned it to me - twice. So I had to resort to the traditional method: get the dog to open their mouth by pushing their lips down over their teeth. That didn't work that well with Eunice and I barely got her mouth open. Once the pill is in the dogs mouth, you have to hold their mouth shut until you see their tongue poke out - that means they have swallowed. Eunice is a very patient dog, she out waited me twice before I finally got the pill down.

I will never forget Eunice's cheese chunk again.

Then there is Henry. He did good for the first three days. He and Lucinda would eat their vitamins right out of my hand and Henry would lick up his pain pill from my fingers. On the fourth day, he decided that he didn't want the pill, so he knocked it to the ground and let Lucinda eat it. Fortunately, my dog takes the same pill so I could replace those doses.

I try a new approach. Henry eats so fast, I will just drop it into his breakfast. That worked for two days until I noticed he wolfed down breakfast but left one piece of kibble. Hey, that was not kibble, that was his pill. He obviously doesn't need it for eye sight or sense of smell.

I thought I would have to resort to holding his mouth, but I tried putting the little pill on top of the vitamin tablet and he ate them together. Thankfully he went home before I had to come up with another way to get him to take his pills.


For my own dogs, I used to use cheese, but I found that peanut butter works better. Every morning one of my dogs has to have 2 pills. I put PB on a knife and she licks it clean. I did used a spoon, but you have to wait much longer to get a clean spoon back than a clean knife. I get a second knife and give my other dog a PB treat, just to be fair. We have been doing this every morning for months now and yet every morning the second dog looks that peanut butter over very throughly to make sure I am not trying to slip a pill in on her.

The New Dog Gauntlet

Remy seems to handling all the attention pretty well.

DEMON DOGS!

I thought the flash might help me capture the bedtime action but instead it turned all my charges into demon dogs.

A Taste of Her Own Medicine

Lucinda has finally been out Lucinda'ed.

We finally have a dog bigger, bouncier, and more persistent than Lucinda. A standard sized poodle named Chico. It is funny to watch Lucinda suffer from a dog that is playing a bit to rough and won't get the message that she would much rather be playing with BB.

Unfortunately, irony is lost on dogs.

They are very much like the average toddler who will wail when another kids comes up and swipes his toys, but fails to see the problem in his own bad behavior when he does the same thing.

That level of self awareness must show up in kids around age 4 or 5. I can't quite remember when my kids finally got the concept that if I don't like it happening to me, I shouldn't do it to others. I have never seen a dog get that message.

The other dogs do seem to have a sense of 'just deserts' as they seem to really be enjoying watching Lucinda getting some.

Finally a Match for Lucinda, Nelly

And all the other dogs breathed a sigh of relief.

It is Tough being the Newest of the New

Once again, being the new dog on the block comes with a lot of unwanted attention. Especially if Lucinda is doing the greeting. Talk about persistence.

Just a Big Furry Blurr

This time the camera captured what I see. Lucinda rarely slows down long enough to photograph.

Her style of playing is to wrestle for 30 seconds and then spin off at top speeds, whip around and come back for another session of wrestling.

What is Henry Barking About This Time?

We had been playing for about 20 minutes when Henry started barking. He wasn't barking at anything, so I was alternating being trying to shush him and ignore him. I was figuring about another 10 minutes of playtime.

That is when I snapped his picture and realized what all the barking was about. He really does look mad. He is sitting in front of his kennel waiting to be let in. Henry doesn't care that it will be hotter than the surface of the sun out here before lunch, and this is the only time to have a real playtime until bedtime. He wants his breakfast and he wants it now.

He wanted his breakfast so much that he tried to eat Lucinda's breakfast as well. We just can have that, it's rude.

Tomorrow, I am giving him a biscuit to hold him over for a full half hour, so he can survive until breakfast time.

A Very Unlikely Pairing

Dufus and Lucinda

At first, I thought Lucinda was scaring the tar out of Dufus, so I would break them up.

Then I noticed that Dufus was the one starting it. Dufus had a funny technique. She runs up and gets Lucinda's attention and then she runs and cowers. It is like a kid who yells, "Get me, Get me, Get me!" then turns away, wraps his arms over his head and yells, "DON'T!"

It turns out that Dufus's interested-terrified style works well with Lucinda's here now-gone now style.

Well as long as you two are having fun.

Lucinda must be Italian for Way Too Happy

Lucinda is the funniest dog. I thought she was frighten when she first planted herself between my knees. She is just looking for a fortified position from which to attack from. "No Fighting On Mom" must not be a rule in her house.

She had a great time wrestling with Rocko who is much smaller than her. I tried to get some good pictures of their wrestling matches but since most of them happened directly under me, I usually missed the shot. I did manage to get these ones.

I don't think Rocko wants Harley butting in.

Henry and Lucinda

Lucinda

Henry

They are both here for just an overnight. They will go home later today. This was a test drive. They are coming back for a long stay in June. I think all three of us will be looking forward to that date. They are having a great time and I am having a great time watching them.

Shilo is the Life of the Party!

And the center of attention.

Maybe too much attention. It takes a very confident dog to stand still when this crowd come in for a 'Meet and Greet'.

When Shilo decided that was enough and started to run, the play time really started.

I am so glad Shilo came today.