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.

The Guitar

A lot of dogs get scared of things- like thunder when it rains, or fireworks during Fourth of July. Luckily, none of the dogs in my life have had these problems. Snickers had the fear of vacuums when he was younger... which was partly my fault. I used to chase him around the house with the vacuum when he was a puppy, so I guess you can't blame the guy.

Cooper and Bear have never displayed these sorts of fears before... until tonight.

Brian broke out the guitar (for the first time since we moved!) and the boys have never seen or heard it. He started strumming away, and Cooper was not having it. He high-tailed it to the other room and decided not to come back. He was hiding under the dining room table then on the other side of the couch when I came to look for him. We tried luring him back into the living room, with kind words of praise, but he wasn't having it.

We finally brought the guitar to the front room where Coop was hiding, laid it on the floor, and sat down to see if he'd come out. He did, circled it a few times, but refused to get near it. We had the ingenious idea of putting their favorite "good dog treats" on the guitar to see if he'd get near it. Now, this was absolute torture of Bear, who didn't really care about the guitar, only about the treat. Brian held Bear back, while Cooper sniffed the guitar/treat. Coop eventually reached the treat, but that did not cure his fear. We tried the treat tactic a few more times, but Coop is still deathly afraid of the guitar.

After the treats were put up, Coop decided to go outside and refused to come back into the house until Brian had put his guitar away. It broke my heart that he was so scared of the guitar. He is normally the braver of the two brothers (especially at the dog park) but that little guitar drove him crazy.
I'm sure we'll bust out these "exercises" with their treats on the guitar again real soon, so I hope Coop gets over his fear fast, or else we'll have a pretty fat Bear :)

Boys and their Toys

Sorry it has been a while since the last post- we started up the home improvement chores again, so I got a little side tracked with the doggy blog. Anyways...

I realized yesterday that the little boys have so many toys, it is ridiculous. And every night, I put the toys back next to the dog bed in the living room, but the boys make sure that their toys get the rule of the house because those toys always seem to be strewn about the living room, bedroom, hallway, kitchen, dining room and bathroom the next day. Below is a sample of their toy selection:

It is actually really cute- Cooper loves the toys that squeak or make noise. In the mornings, the boys will get up and head to the door to go outside, but Cooper has to go grab a toy to take with him. His favorite is Carrot. He'll go rescue Carrot from the place where I put it the night before, wait at the door until he is let outside, take Carrot over to the grass to do his business, drop Carrot, do his business, pick Carrot up, then come back inside. Why does he feel the need to drop Carrot while he is actually doing his business, I'll never know, but it must be proper dog etiquette.

Bear loves whatever toy Cooper has, but no real favorite. Half the time they are fighting over one toy or chasing the other one around to get a toy. The boys love to play tug of war together with the ropes that they have. The first rope (and possibly first toy they got) is a little rope, lovingly known as "the puppy rope" and is about 5 inches long. So half the time, they each take an end and start prancing around the house with it in their mouths. It is so small, they are prancing side by side, in sync. It makes me laugh. I've been trying to get a picture of the "rope prance" but they don't prance long enough for me to find my camera.

It is hard to tell, but the brothers are actually sitting side by side... chewing on separate rawhide bones. No, this is not staged... they must be tired.

Happy New Year

Happy 2010 from Cooper and Bear!

Even though the boys are only 5 months old, here is a quick look back on their life in 2009:

Doggies first days with their new family- they liked to sleep and play most of the time. They were so tiny, only weighing about 6 pounds each, and so sweet. I could actually pick them both up at the same time (can't do that anymore!). Those first few weeks were pretty rough with two little puppies running around the house, not potty trained, and stealing socks like it was their job. Luckily our house is mostly ceramic tile, so any "accident" came up pretty easily. They have come sooo far in just a few months.

They celebrated their first halloween this year. Cooper was a pirate and Bear was a lion- they actually wore their costumes pretty well for the first part of the night, and kept them on for a little while. Cooper's hat was too big so it kept falling off, so I only got a few got a few pictures of him actually looking at the camera. They definitely enjoyed meeting all the neighbors in their costume- they were not very fierce guard dogs yet.

They enjoyed their first Thanksgiving with my in-laws and got to meet grandma and grandpa. They were also our first guests to stay overnight with the dogs and thankfully the dogs didn't bark too much. Just to be safe, we gave our guests ear plugs in case they had puppy nightmares in the other room. My in-laws were in town for about 8 days so they had plenty of time to meet the boys and bond with them.

The boys even got to experience their first snow! It never snows in Houston, so this will be a very rare event in their life, but they enjoyed it for the most part. I think Bear liked the snow a lot more than Cooper, because he would run around the deck sliding in the snow/ice. Cooper just stood there not really moving. But they kept asking to go outside... maybe because I kept wanting to go outside too, but it was still fun.

They spent Christmas at my mom's house and got to meet Uncle Snickers and also my sister. They behaved very well at Snicker's house, and the 14 year old Snickers tolerated them as well as was to be expected. They also got a lot of good toys for Christmas, including Cooper's favorite stuffed Carrot, new ropes and bones. They have already destuffed one of the rope toys my in-laws sent. Here is the before and after picture.

And now we have started a new year with the boys! So excited to see what 2010 will bring and all the new adventures of Cooper and Bear. Happy New Year!!