Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Squishy and Cinderley
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Bigger than a dust bunny
When I was a little girl, dogs and cats were never allowed in the house. Other than the fact that my dad grew up on a farm where farm animals stay outside, I never understood the reasoning. So when I got my own dog and my own house, I had the power to make my own rules, and I did. My dog was allowed to eat, sleep, and play in my house. Then I got a second dog, and then a third dog. Then it started to make sense, could it have been a cleaning issue?
I would say, at most households, the floors are swept and vacuumed for dirt. Well, at my household, our floors are swept and vacuumed for dog hair. If you drop a piece of food on my floor, there is no ten second rule, it's just a goner. The dogs aren't allowed on furniture, so the hair doesn't get on our clothing. But if you walk in your sock on my floor, you will end up having dog hair stuck to them. Slippers are a highly favored item in this household. Once I put my socks on, I put my feet into my slippers. Then when I'm ready to leave the house I take my feet out of the slippers and put them directly into my shoes. Then when I get home, I take off my shoes and put them directly back into my slippers. I can only vouch for myself, I don't know if my husband has such a strict ritual. Also, if I'm barefoot and I'm going to bed, I brush my feet off before I get under the covers, just in case some hair got stuck to my foot. As crazy as it may sound, the joy of having my dogs in the house out weighs the troubles I have with dog hair.
In a weeks time, I have many dust bunnies, but I like to think of them as a hybrid dust bunny, for this reason. "A dust bunny are small clumps of dust that form under furniture and in corners that are not cleaned regularly. They are made of hair, lint, dead skin, spider web, dust, and sometimes light rubbish and debris, and are held together by static electricity and felt-like entanglement." First of all, I find my dust bunnies in high traffic areas, not in neglected corners. Secondly, they are cleaned up regularly. Thirdly, they are made of mostly hair because the rest of the ingredient hardly have a chance accumulate in between cleanings. So maybe mine are "Hare" bunnies, instead of dust bunnies. Regardless of what you call it, I've never seen a dust bunny as big as the ones that develop at my house.
I would say, at most households, the floors are swept and vacuumed for dirt. Well, at my household, our floors are swept and vacuumed for dog hair. If you drop a piece of food on my floor, there is no ten second rule, it's just a goner. The dogs aren't allowed on furniture, so the hair doesn't get on our clothing. But if you walk in your sock on my floor, you will end up having dog hair stuck to them. Slippers are a highly favored item in this household. Once I put my socks on, I put my feet into my slippers. Then when I'm ready to leave the house I take my feet out of the slippers and put them directly into my shoes. Then when I get home, I take off my shoes and put them directly back into my slippers. I can only vouch for myself, I don't know if my husband has such a strict ritual. Also, if I'm barefoot and I'm going to bed, I brush my feet off before I get under the covers, just in case some hair got stuck to my foot. As crazy as it may sound, the joy of having my dogs in the house out weighs the troubles I have with dog hair.
In a weeks time, I have many dust bunnies, but I like to think of them as a hybrid dust bunny, for this reason. "A dust bunny are small clumps of dust that form under furniture and in corners that are not cleaned regularly. They are made of hair, lint, dead skin, spider web, dust, and sometimes light rubbish and debris, and are held together by static electricity and felt-like entanglement." First of all, I find my dust bunnies in high traffic areas, not in neglected corners. Secondly, they are cleaned up regularly. Thirdly, they are made of mostly hair because the rest of the ingredient hardly have a chance accumulate in between cleanings. So maybe mine are "Hare" bunnies, instead of dust bunnies. Regardless of what you call it, I've never seen a dust bunny as big as the ones that develop at my house.
Here's a sample of a "hare" bunny that I swept up from my bedroom.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
A silent call for help
The other day when Thor was in the house, I gave him the rest of a rawhide to chew on while my husband and I watched TV. About a half hour later Thor abruptly gets up from his bed and walks over to Travis and I, he's acting kind of funny. Travis notices that the sides of his body are sucked in and he's barely breathing, "I think he's choking!".We jump up and Travis starts to give him the Heimlich maneuver to the dog the best he could. We also pat him on the back a couple times. Sure enough, he coughed up the last bit of his rawhide that he swallowed without chewing well enough. The rest of the evening he stayed by our sides in admiration, knowing he had a near death experience and that we saved him.
Our dogs often choke on the last little bit of rawhide because they don't take the time to chew it enough to make it soft and flexible to swallow. Which has lead us to the habit of taking it from the dog before it's to the swallowing size. We never give our dogs rawhides unless they are supervised. Please take note, do not leave your dog unattended with a rawhide bone. Also, be sure you can remove this treat from your dog safely at anytime. If your dog respects you as the pack leader, you should be able to give and take away when ever you want to.
Puppies chew anything, large puppies also swallow anything
One morning Travis went to feed the dogs and noticed Cinderley's collar was missing. He glanced around the kennel and shuffled the pine shavings in the dog house, but all he could find was the buckle.Not thinking much of it, his day carried on. That evening we brought Cinderley and Squishy in the house (the dog's get to sleep inside on an alternating schedule). Cinderley was looking pretty big and bad without her pink collar on.
About two hours after I went to bed, Squishy started to make that noise when someone's about to barf, except nothing came up. So we all went back to sleep. Then at about 2 am, he started to make the noise again, except this time he puked, and then it looked like he was going to puke again. So we rushed him outside, except he only made it to the back door (still inside the house) before he up-chucked again. Then we sent him outside.
I grabbed a plastic sack and paper towels and started to clean-up the mess in the bedroom. I start to pick it up (my hand's inside the plastic bag of course), when I went to pick it up the second time I came to a realization. "This is Cinderley's collar!" Squishy had chewed up Cinderley's 24" leather collar into 2 inch uniformed lengths and swallowed them! We don't know for sure how Cinderley's collar came off, I'm pretty sure Squishy either yanked it off of her neck, or just chewed it off of her while they were resting. We had a similar problem when Squishy and Thor were kennel partners, Thor's collar ended up in pieces twice in the same week.
So lesson learned, dog's will eat anything.
About two hours after I went to bed, Squishy started to make that noise when someone's about to barf, except nothing came up. So we all went back to sleep. Then at about 2 am, he started to make the noise again, except this time he puked, and then it looked like he was going to puke again. So we rushed him outside, except he only made it to the back door (still inside the house) before he up-chucked again. Then we sent him outside.
I grabbed a plastic sack and paper towels and started to clean-up the mess in the bedroom. I start to pick it up (my hand's inside the plastic bag of course), when I went to pick it up the second time I came to a realization. "This is Cinderley's collar!" Squishy had chewed up Cinderley's 24" leather collar into 2 inch uniformed lengths and swallowed them! We don't know for sure how Cinderley's collar came off, I'm pretty sure Squishy either yanked it off of her neck, or just chewed it off of her while they were resting. We had a similar problem when Squishy and Thor were kennel partners, Thor's collar ended up in pieces twice in the same week.
So lesson learned, dog's will eat anything.
Thor's luxurious pillow
So last week, after I went to bed, I ditched my pillow early on. As the story goes, my husband tells me that my pillow somehow made it down to my feet by the time he came to bed. Well then at about 4 o'clock in the morning I was sleeping lightly, I knew there was a presence of a pillow near my head, and then all of a sudden my husband, lying on this belly, took it away and grasped it in a bear hug. "He just took my pillow!" I thought to myself. I'm not much of a morning person, and I could really care less about how someone else's morning goes, I attempt to yank the pillow back into my possession. However, he now has a death grip on the thing, so I began to poke him to wake him up. "What?", he says in a half-asleep tone. "You took my pillow!" I exclaimed. "No I didn't, your pillow's on the floor". I then reached down to feel for my pillow and I feel the dogs head. "I think Thor's on it". Travis then turns on a light, and sure enough, I found Thor like this....
He was using the pillow like a human does! I don't know if he decided to use it to cushion and elevate his head because he's observed us sleeping for the past 2 years, of if he came up with it on his own. However, at this point he's had possession of my king sized pillow for the majority of the night, and I didn't care to have it back with dog hair on it. I was getting up in an hour anyways, so I let him use it for the rest of the morning.
A couple days later I decided I could be a nice owner and give him an old flat pillow that had been retired and taking up space in the spare room. So I put an old pillow case on it and placed it on the dog bed. Before I went to bed, Thor had already found the pillow and tucked himself in...
Now every night he curls up next to the pillow and places his head on it; and that's where he stays all night long. Very content might I add.
He was using the pillow like a human does! I don't know if he decided to use it to cushion and elevate his head because he's observed us sleeping for the past 2 years, of if he came up with it on his own. However, at this point he's had possession of my king sized pillow for the majority of the night, and I didn't care to have it back with dog hair on it. I was getting up in an hour anyways, so I let him use it for the rest of the morning.
A couple days later I decided I could be a nice owner and give him an old flat pillow that had been retired and taking up space in the spare room. So I put an old pillow case on it and placed it on the dog bed. Before I went to bed, Thor had already found the pillow and tucked himself in...
Sunday, December 5, 2010
I don't think he knew he was lost
On labor day, Travis and I took a one-night camping trip to Carmen Reservoir, which is in the Willamette National Forest. We took Squishy and Cinderley with us. When we got their we did some fishing and took the dogs out on the boat with us. Neither dog had ever gone boating before, but they did great. After fishing, we set-up camp and then took a hike with the dogs to a couple of falls that are part of the McKenzie River, which flows into the reservoir. The hike was about a mile round-trip and it was along the river. Seeing as how we showed up the day everyone else was packing up to go home, by the end of the day there was only one other family camping at the campground. That night, the dogs slept in the tent with us, like they always do, and we all slept peacefully in the quite forest.
The next morning the dogs wanted to get up before we did. So we tied Squishy and Cinderley up with a cable that was attached to our pick-nick table, and we went back to sleep. We got up about 30-45 minutes later. Travis got out of the tent and then yells "Squishy's gone!" Squishy, the big lug, broke the cable (which is rated for 200 lbs). I quickly got dressed and we both went wandering around the empty campground with Cinderley, yelling squishy's name. We walked around the campground two or three times, I talked to the one other family camping there, who also had dogs, but they hadn't seen Squishy. Our search then got serious, Squishy could be found no where! We are out in the middle of the forest, on the last weekend before the campground closes for the winter, and we lost our dog. I then loaded Cinderley up in the truck and drove down to the reservoir, and Travis hiked down the hill along the creek. At the reservoir there was construction at the bridge that crosses the river, I see a construction worker and jump out of my truck, "Have you seen a big black dog with a red collar? I have lost him, he's a Rottweiler". The man responded with "Is he nice?" "Yes, he won't hurt you, if you see him let me know, we are staying up at the campground." Mean while Travis is hiking the trails that lead down to the reservoir, more than once. I then take off up the road to the upper falls that we hiked to the day before. When I get there, a car just left, I jump out and start to do a fast-walk/jog down the 1/2 mile trail leading to the campground, shouting my puppy's name. I get to the lower falls, and I cross paths with a couple of older ladies. The first thing they asked is "Did you run here?" They were the car that had left the upper falls when I pulled in, and they remembered seeing me. "No, it was more of a fast walk, I'm looking for my dog." I tell them my story but they hadn't seen Squishy either. I then took another trail that led back to the upper falls where I had to retrieve the truck with Cinderley in the back. Still no sign of Squishy, about an hour has lapsed, and there's no telling how far Squishy has traveled by now. Before driving around some more, I decided to go back to camp. When I got there, Travis and Squishy were both at camp. What a relief! Apparently Travis was on his way back to check camp and Squishy was already there. Travis startled Squishy and he started barking like a big bad dog guarding his territory, like he had never left. What a silly dog, I bet he didn't even know he was lost! Where he went, we will never know, we looked everywhere for an hour, and when he was ready, I'm sure he was able to find us in less than 5 minutes. My gut feeling told me he'd come back, but at the same time I couldn't just sit there and wait.
The next morning the dogs wanted to get up before we did. So we tied Squishy and Cinderley up with a cable that was attached to our pick-nick table, and we went back to sleep. We got up about 30-45 minutes later. Travis got out of the tent and then yells "Squishy's gone!" Squishy, the big lug, broke the cable (which is rated for 200 lbs). I quickly got dressed and we both went wandering around the empty campground with Cinderley, yelling squishy's name. We walked around the campground two or three times, I talked to the one other family camping there, who also had dogs, but they hadn't seen Squishy. Our search then got serious, Squishy could be found no where! We are out in the middle of the forest, on the last weekend before the campground closes for the winter, and we lost our dog. I then loaded Cinderley up in the truck and drove down to the reservoir, and Travis hiked down the hill along the creek. At the reservoir there was construction at the bridge that crosses the river, I see a construction worker and jump out of my truck, "Have you seen a big black dog with a red collar? I have lost him, he's a Rottweiler". The man responded with "Is he nice?" "Yes, he won't hurt you, if you see him let me know, we are staying up at the campground." Mean while Travis is hiking the trails that lead down to the reservoir, more than once. I then take off up the road to the upper falls that we hiked to the day before. When I get there, a car just left, I jump out and start to do a fast-walk/jog down the 1/2 mile trail leading to the campground, shouting my puppy's name. I get to the lower falls, and I cross paths with a couple of older ladies. The first thing they asked is "Did you run here?" They were the car that had left the upper falls when I pulled in, and they remembered seeing me. "No, it was more of a fast walk, I'm looking for my dog." I tell them my story but they hadn't seen Squishy either. I then took another trail that led back to the upper falls where I had to retrieve the truck with Cinderley in the back. Still no sign of Squishy, about an hour has lapsed, and there's no telling how far Squishy has traveled by now. Before driving around some more, I decided to go back to camp. When I got there, Travis and Squishy were both at camp. What a relief! Apparently Travis was on his way back to check camp and Squishy was already there. Travis startled Squishy and he started barking like a big bad dog guarding his territory, like he had never left. What a silly dog, I bet he didn't even know he was lost! Where he went, we will never know, we looked everywhere for an hour, and when he was ready, I'm sure he was able to find us in less than 5 minutes. My gut feeling told me he'd come back, but at the same time I couldn't just sit there and wait.
Why I love my rottie dogs
I love my rottie dogs because they love me back.
I love my Cinderley because she like's to cuddle with me on the couch.
I love my Thor because he's a great guard dog.
I love my Squishy because he still thinks he's 3 months old.
All Cinderley wants is to be friends with everyone, and for everyone to give her love and attention. When she was a puppy, I took her everywhere and socialized her with everyone. Now that she's grown, all she want to be is social.
Thor believes his job in life is to protect our property, at the end of the day when he comes inside, he just lays down and falls asleep, as if he had an exhausting day at work.
Squishy still acts like a little puppy, I don't think he knows he's huge. He still plays like a puppy, gets into trouble, and looks at you with innocent puppy eyes. To some he may look intimidating, to me, I just want to smother him with love.
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