Oldee Townee

Hey All.

 Izzy has learned that my truck takes you places. And that these places are NEW places, that have yet to be sniffed. So now every bloody time I take her for a walk she runs to my truck and tries to open the door. Yes Izzy. I like going places too but gas is expensive -.-;

Well, today I gave in. I buckled her up and we drove to the historic district of Fredericksburg.  It didn't take long to park. I had a roll of plastic baggies for cleanup, and a large bottle of water that she can drink from. It's a pretty hilly area, packed full of lovely shops and beautiful buildings.

When we first got there, I heard Bagpipes. I thought that was kind of silly, there are several celtic shops in the area, including one I like to buy jewelry from, but I didn't think I had parked by one? I didn't!
I came around the corner and there was a real live dude in a real live kilt playing real live music!

FOR. THE. WIN.

That right there made the whole trip worthwhile. Izzy sat very politely, and didn't howl like some of the other dogs passing by did. I was very proud of my pup :)

She did very well with people and children. I kept her leash pretty short because she's not acclimated to walking on a leash, and definitely not with so many people around. It was Saturday and the beginning of the holidays so lots of people were out. When little children came over she sat very well and let them pet her, and lots of people told me what a lovely dog I have. She did not do so well with the other dogs. She really needs to be better socialized. When there are other dogs she barks, and jumps, and won't settle, and that's the kind of things that makes me not want to go on organized dog walks and things. Hopefully I can take her out more and socialize her more so that she can get over this overly-anxious behavior.

Most everyone either had a dog, didn't mind dogs, or wanted to pet dogs. All except one crazy man. There is an area that overlooks the river, and a man was standing there taking pictures. Well, I wanted pictures too, but I didn't want to interrupt the man, so I was standing maybe 6 or 8 feet away waiting for him to finish. I'm not sure if the light glintered off her collar tags or what but all of a sudden he whips around and yells

     "A DOG!? whats a dog doing here?!" and I kind of took a step back (Izzy had been sitting quietly, if I stop walking when we are out after a minute or so she just sits, quite nicely), and explained that I just wanted a picture, and that I could wait, and that she wouldn't come near him. He started sweating heavily, exclaimed that he "had to get out of here" and took off at a very chunky jog. I had offered to leave and come back if the dog bothered him but he just kept saying "no, no, no," and backing up.

Jeez. it's public property. It's a nice day. And it's a popular place to walk dogs. WTF? Well the man had upset poor Izzy so much I couldn't get a picture anyway :( what a mean old man. Well I did get a few pictures closer to the river after she had calmed down and we had walked around a bit.

I think next time, I will see if Mike wants to come with us and we can see the battle grounds :) they have the history plaques and monuments and I read online that if you call the park rangers first and clean up after your dog they will let you bring them. That sounds like fun to me.

Till the next truck drive ;)

     -Mandy + Izzy

Rubber Duckies and Stuff

We have been leaving Izzy out of her crate at night because she was bored, even if we left her toys and things, and her whining wasn't letting us get any sleep.  Now, She keeps us up jumping on the bed, jumping off the bed, jumping on the bed jumping off the bed, jumping on the bed with a squeaker toy, trying to decimate the squeaker toy. Ugh.
At first she will lay there, curled up, all innocent and warm looking. But sometime in the night, she will get bored. and instead of going to the living room where her toys are and playing with them on the couch, she drags them into the bed and wakes us up playing.

I know this is my fault. I let her in the bed. But theres no real way at the moment to train her out of it. We can't shut the door because the cats food and water is in here.
So on Friday, I am buying an extra high baby gate, that has a small cat door built in to it. So she can see me when we sleep (so she won't have a spazz attack) but it will keep her off us, and the bed at night, and she can sleep in her kennel (I'll move it out of the bedroom) or she can sleep on the couch. Hopefully that will fix everything :D

When I took Izzy out to go to the bathroom she ran under some funky bushes and got this sappy crap on her. So I decided to give her a bath. I put a towel on the floor in front of the bath tub, ran the water to a good temperature, and filled the tub about a quarter of the way.
I got Izzy in to the bath room, stood by the tub and called her. She came over half-assed with this kind of "I'm not going in there" attitude. So I rolled up my jeans to me knee, and jumped in. Well that got her to at least come to the tub, she still wouldn't get in. I really wanted to like take the time for her to explore the whole "lets take a bath" scenario, but the water was getting cooler so I just picked her up and put her in.
She thrashed around for a minute before discovering that the bath tub is like being inside a huge water bowl. Then she wanted to play in it. splishy splashy turning in circles, I can't complain it let me soap her up good. she didn't like rinsing, but she put up with it. She toweled off pretty easily and dried pretty quickly too. However the whole experience got her real excited. she started doing lightning fast laps around the apartment and rolling all over/licking everything.

Now she smells like cucumber melon. such a pretty puppy <3

the sleepless nights are somehow manageable when you see her laying on the couch chewing on a rawhide bone that's just about as long a she is. (and also on the couch when she's keeping your feet warm. yeah that too.)

Sweet Dreams are made of This

So we were having trouble getting Izzy to sleep, or at least be quiet all night. I would go out with her for hours, play with her before bed,  make sure there were treats and toys in her kennel. But it never failed. Around Midnight, 2, 3, 4 every hour or so she would wake us up. We bought a bark collar that stopped her from barking at neighbors, and it stopped her whining in the kennel, but then she learned to make equally obnoxious noises that the collar doesn't pick up on.

Well last week or so when we got Izzy back and before we got the bark collar she kept us up all night so we took the next day off from work. he slept in the living room, I slept in the bedroom and we closed all other doors. Nothing bad happened.

Yesterday was Voting day. So I got home super late and felt bad she didn't get to be outside for as long as usual. I couldn't bring myself to kennel her. So I puppy proofed the living room/dining room/kitchen to the best of my ability.  Threw some blankets on the couch and made sure my phone was charged (I planned to use it like a flashlight if I heard her chewing on stuff).  She was really hyper. she jumped around me for awhile and tried to drown me with licks. Everytime she did I would tell her to lay down because it was bed time, and I would close my eyes and stop interacting with her. She got the hint after a short time. she spent most of the night off and on my feet, and chewing on rawhides and toys. she nosed some stuff shes not supposed to chew but she didn't actually chew anything that I am aware of.

So tonight I am going to try to puppy proof even more, and we are going to see how she does with no one in the living room. she can sleep in the bed if she settles down but if she wont then I'll shut the door. Which will probably upset her for awhile, she doesn't like to be away from me, but we need sleep and she needs to be able to be in a different room then me. she can't follow me about 24/7. she is getting better. If she can prove for a good amount of time she is safe at night, I will leave her out during the day as well.

Clear The Air

Poor Izzy got sick last week. I am not sure if it was the new treats I bought at the store or if she was stressed at being home again and re-adjusting. One thing I am sure of is that when the metal kennel we bought claimed it was "easy to clean in case of accidents" I never though it might be lying. Actually, I never though that "easy to clean" would actually apply to me. The plastic tray in the bottom slides out. cool. so if she has an accident I just have to slide the tray out. Rock on. Whatever. Like that's gonna happen, dog is already house broken. I did not, however, stop to think "well what happens if the accident ISN'T on the tray" or "Well what if she gets sick and can't help it?". no. never thought of that. Until Mike called me from home and asked how far out I was. It was my birthday so I thought it was a fancy schmancy dinner invitation. It wasn't. it was a plea for help. Somehow, when Izzy got sick, she managed to get it all over the back of her kennel and the wall behind it. Yes, I spent my birthday scrubbing walls and trying to get my fingers in between the black metal/wire frame of her kennel. it was not "easy to clean" it was a nightmare and I hope I never have to do it again. I should have just thrown it in the shower or something (that thought didn't apply to my either as I sat there flossing between the wires with a hot soapy rag forever).

She got over it almost overnight, she showed improvement the next morning and was fine by that night. The only smells I have to worry about now is her gas. ugh, I used to wonder how she could stand smelling it since her nose is better then mine, but apparently she deals with it the same way we do (account given by Mike):

Izzy was laying on the couch sleeping and I heard this loud noise, and as I turned to see what it was I realized it was an epic dog fart, right after it happened, Izzy woke up, growled at her ass,  and ran to the other side of the couch and buried her face in the pillows.


Lesson Learned, this is another person who cant have vegetarian re-fried beans.

November 2nd

We had a great day today :D Starting around 4:00 am and ending sometime shortly. I remember doing an assessment on the almost first post I made on here, I'd like to do another on because I think she's made a lot of progress.

Chewing: Izzy hasn't tried to chew much that isn't hers, and when she does we have words for that. She's put her mouth on the couch a few times (leave it - aka not yours/don't touch that). She's also tried to chew up a pillow and a blanket (Drop it - aka . . . drop. . . it? I guess maybe let go. . . ). Oh she still also tried to chew on me, but I pinned her good a few times and she seems to be getting the idea.

Walking: let's not do this one yet. . .

House Breaking:
suh-weeet. not 1 accident. at one point I was cleaning something and I had taken my eyes off her. panicked I dashed for the floor cleaner and some rags. Previously she followed me from room to room and if she disappeared it meant she had left me a present, in one form or another in whatever room she was hiding in. This time she was just laying by the door. I picked up her leash and she sat up and waited for me to clip it on, and she went to the bathroom outside. I was so happy :D
I am guessing when she was staying with my aunt she learned this from the other dogs. that's awesome.

Eating:
I switched from the Beneful to the Purina. She didn't really eat the Beneful, she would nose at it, and walk away. she scarfs down the Purina. So I'll keep it.



I'm pretty happy with the progress she is making, and I know she will pick up more if we are persistent.

Something, Something, Something, Complete

Hey All,

Our re-pipe is finished, and without even pawsing for breath we ran up to my super awesome Aunts house to get Izzy back <3 . . . and the cats too, but mostly Izzy. As usual she traveled well in the car and pretty much napped the whole way home.

Aside from re-sniffing the apartment up and down she didn't make much of a fuss. I was a bit worried since we didn't have her for long before we had to have my aunt keep her. She's chilling on the floor behind me as I type this.

I don't really have much to type tonight but I wanted to mention that we got everyone home in one piece, and they seem pretty well and happy. We will probably keep the cats in the bedroom with us, we had plenty of time to clean the bedroom up from the re-pipe but the living room is still a half mess. I'll pick up most of it tomorrow before work and finish after.

I think we are all a bit tired tonight so going to turn in so we can go to work tomorrow,

kibble doesn't grow on trees you know :)