Dog Dens

Bear loves dens. I think most dogs do, but Bear especially loves tiny spots he can really wedge himself into and become invisible. It's pretty cute, but sometimes I really can't find the little rascal. So, I guess it shouldn’t have surprise me when I went outside to look for him yesterday afternoon and found him here:He wedged himself between the house and this tree/bush thing that sprouted like crazy this summer right next to the house, creating a nice canopy, and he decided to take a nap. It is a pretty nice, shaded spot on a warm day, so I guess I can't blame him. He normally sprawls out on the deck to sun himself until he melts into a nap, but he is apparently diggin his new digs as I've found him there every time he's outside for any length of time now.

Cooper helped me find him
It reminds me of how he used to squeeze between the couch and the wall in the front room when he was about 10 pounds smaller - here is a picture of when he hid in that spot after he was neutered.

He doesn't fit in that spot anymore, but it is kinda funny to see him try :)

Lazy Saturday

These candid photos were taken last weekend, while we were eating lunch.

Scene: Lazy Saturday

Bear had just gotten comfortable, wedged in between his favorite bookshelf and sub-woofer speaker. This really is a great spot because he can keep an eye on his favorite people (us) as well as the back door and food bowl.

However, this Saturday, Bear decided to rest his face against the speaker in an abnormally comfortable fashion.We tried to capture this moment several times because he really was asleep, until a camera made a noise during the picture.

Anyways, it was hilarious. He tried to do it again today in the car, except the “speaker” was the seat of the car. Good dog fun for sure.

Suitcase Fun

My dogs love smells. Any smell. Sweet or stinky, they’re all about it. Sometimes it is cute, like when they go outside and start smelling the flowers and plants. And sometimes it’s funny, like when Bear couldn’t stop smelling my hair after I got back from the hair salon. But mainly it is gross, like when they start smelling armpits and you know it is time for a shower.

Anyways, I recently returned from a trip visiting my grandparents, and unlike Uncle Snickers (who has a panic attack whenever he sees a suitcase) the boy’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas when they saw the bag roll in.

Now, I’m the type of person that likes to unpack their bag as soon as the vacation is over, so I threw the bag down and started sorting through everything that needed to be put away. However, Bear had another idea. As soon as the “bag of wonders” opened, he jumped right in and decided to make a little nest. That’s right, full on “digging, pushing around, rolling-to-perfection” nest. Since my suitcase was mostly dirty clothes, and I was too busy laughing, I didn’t really have a problem and decided to snap this picture.



Cooper is a big ole fraidy dog, so he pretty much stayed clear of the whole “suit case/bag of wonders” situation. But I did get this picture of him.



Anyways, I eventually put the suitcase up and ruined Bear’s fun, but at least the boys could get some new smells and have a little suitcase fun.

Boy's First Birthday

I know it has been a while, but we’re back to post about the boy’s first birthday. Yep, that’s right, those little stinkers turned one on July 29th. And if they weren’t sure about the big event, I made sure to let them know that they were officially going to be adult dogs on the 29th. They seemed pretty excited :)They were good boys and even let me snap this picture of them. This is their “first year portrait” – aren’t they handsome little devils? I had to do a little red eye correction on Mr. Bear, which Picasa will actually let me do. Apparently blue dog eyes behave a lot like blue human eyes, so red eye correction is a necessity in any “flash” picture. Now, there was no helping poor Cooper, so he just has “flash” eyes.

Unfortunately I was traveling on their actual birthday, but I’m planning to make one of those fancy dog cakes, or dog treats. You know, the kind that Rachael Ray talks about here we’ll see how it goes :)

Olympic Dogs

The Winter Olympics have been going on for about a week now, and I can tell the dogs are just as excited as we are!

We had an Opening Ceremony party with a few friends last Friday, and of course the boys got to come along. While we celebrated the Opening Ceremony with take-out BBQ and adult beverages, the boys ran around with their little girlfriend, Nutmeg. Our friends also have a dog (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) named Nutmeg and the boys are just in love with her. It is the cutest thing to see them chase her around the house/back yard. But, they also know it is her house, so she can put them in their place with the swish of her tail.

The boys have known Nutmeg since they were little bitty, and it is funny to see how they have out grown her (the boys are 25 and 30 pounds now, while Nutmeg is about 20). But Nutmeg doesn't seem to mind playing with them- she has all the control! Nutmeg does allow them to play with her toys and drink her water. But, if the boys get too close to her food, she will let out this low, menacing, no-nonsense growl and the boys will back away faster than you can say naptime.

While we were engrossed with the Opening Ceremonies, the dogs were behind us playing their doggy games. They were playing "tease" (where one dogs has a toy that they wave in front of the other dogs to get them all jealous. This game will usually result in a fight or chase of some sort). The other game, in which all three dogs participated in, was "chase Nutmeg around the coffee table" which is descriptive in itself. Nutmeg would do her vixen dance in front of the boys, then tear off around the couch/coffee table/chairs in a big circle with the boys close on her tail. The dogs would go round and round and round until the adults were all dizzy, but it was just good fun for doggies.

Eventually, everyone started to chill out and lay down. We were getting tired too, so it was time to go home. Going to Nutmeg's house is always a tiring adventure, which is a win-win for all of us!

Big Boy Collars

When the boys were little, the only collars that would fit them was the "extra-small dog" collars- you know, the collars for those little yippee dogs types that fit in your pocket :). The collars were pretty cute, both were little Burberry knock-offs (I got them at Petsmart, so they were pretty inexpensive). I wanted the boys to have matching collars, and the Burberry was the best mix of colors that match both of their fur (black and white/brown).

Well, we've been steadily expanding the extra-small collars until about a month ago when we noticed Bear's collar was getting awfully tight (he has a big head for the breed- ha). So I decided it was time to step up to the next level- big boy collars. I liked the Burberry look, but Petsmart did not offer those in the bigger sizes, so I decided to hit the net to find a good knock-off.

I ended up finding matching collars at Swanky Pet online. I got two collars for a very reasonable price- and apparently they hand make them when they are ordered. Even though the boys are classified as a "medium" dog breed, I got the small collars and they fit well with plenty of room to grow. I ended up getting the matching leashes as well, even though we had leashes that matched the extra-small dog collars. It was definitely a good move as the new leashes are wider with less slick material, so they don't slip in your hand as much. The new leashes also make the situation easier when we have to walk the boys without their Gentle Leaders (a device that goes around their nose/neck and prevents them from pulling- a more humane version of the "choke collar"). The boys are getting bigger and stronger, so a better leash for their walk is a good decision.



The boys look very dashing in their new accessories. I think they like them, but more importantly, I like them :)

Neutered.

It's official- the boys have been neutered.

Their appointment was last Friday. We had the procedures done at the local SNAP vet in our area ( http://www.snapus.org/ ) and I would highly recommend their services. They had actually just moved to a brand new location about 10 minutes from our house- very nice, clean, big waiting room with several exam rooms. They even had the separate entrance doors for dogs and cats :)

We dropped the boys off at 7:30 am and picked them up at 4:45 pm . I was very surprised at how hyper the boys were when we came to pick them up -they were jumping all over each other and us. I figured they'd be zonked out, but they seemed okay. However, I could tell Coop was feeling pretty horrible when we got in the car because he immediately sat down by the floor boards (something he never does) and refused to get up on the seat. Bear seemed fine, in fact, he ate his and Cooper's sweet potato bones that we had brought for them. I don't blame him- they hadn't eaten for nearly 24 hours.

We got home, and Cooper pretty much immediately threw up and then submerged himself under the couch, where he did not surface until the next day. Bear sat on the couch the whole night with us but would keep changing positions and seemed generally uncomfortable- both of the boys were whimpering pretty much all night. It was hard to sit there and listen to their whimpers... knowing that I had more drugs for them, just couldn’t give them anymore until the next morning.

We were also given e-collars, or "cones" or "cones of death" from the Vet in case they start licking their wounds, which we almost had to use on Cooper several times, and presented a problem for bed time. I didn't really want to stick the boys in their kennels with the cone of death on, they were already scared enough without adding to the problem, so we came to the decision to let them sleep out in the house... and Brian would sleep on the couch. Yep, what a good doggy daddy to sleep on the couch to watch the boys (Cooper mainly). Brian did say that Cooper eventually came out and settled in a corner of the couch so he could share the pillow with Brian - so sweet. Bear ended up sleeping under our bed, so I slept in the bed. Bear ended up pacing a lot of the night so I don't think he got much sleep - either did I. It was a rough night.

However, the next day was much better. We got Cooper to eat breakfast and take some medicine, so he wasn't whimpering and actually laid on the couch, instead of under it, all day. Bear pretty much acted like nothing was wrong and was walking and jumping all over the place. We had my mom and some of our friends over to move out an old hot tub on our deck, so the boys had visitors too. They both did pretty well with people over- they wanted to play the entire time- so I knew they were feeling better.

Today was the best day yet- Cooper is off the couch completely and running around just like Bear. Our biggest problem now is keeping them inside (they're not allowed outside as they are more prone to infection out there). I think we are out of the woods and they should be completely okay by Friday.