Blog Archives

Getting Ready for Christmas- Planning Ahead

1/31/2015

Last Christmas, Miss B was very worried that her bad behavior would mean that her stocking would be filled with coal. She was very concerned and has decided to be proactive this year by stocking up on brownie points and thus earning her a spot on the nice list. She decided that her talents would be best used in the kitchen helping Mom cook. So she volunteered her supervisory services.

Miss B reporting for kitchen duty

She already tried sniffing through the garbage to make sure nothing good was left near the top, but apparently that was not good and lost her some points toward the nice list. So she tried helping with the refried beans instead.

She's decided that this whole being good stuff is hard work and that Miss S and Mr. C only stay on the nice list because they suck up to the bosses.

She is also convinced that Miss M and Mr. M are only on the nice list because of good looks. I mean seriously, Miss B hasn't had an accident in the house in a really long time. Miss M still poops on the floor if Mom and Dad aren't watching her like a hawk. Mr. M is the main reason that Mom and Dad couldn't put presents under the Christmas tree- at least no presents in boxes. He is convinced that his purpose in life is to maul empty peanut butter jars and destroy boxes. Anyway, what's a girl to do to stay on the nice list? She is going to just try to keep helping in the kitchen so that the fat man will bring her presents too. (Should she have called him that? That isn't going to cost her any points, right?)

Miss B guesses it could be worse though. At least she isn't as much of a trouble maker as this guy. Seriously, look at all of the poop on his perch. Surely he will be put on the naughty list before she will...

Play Time and Mutant Zombie Monster Dogs

1/28/2015

It's been a while since the puppies have been able to get out and run in the yard. We tried letting them run on Sunday, thinking we could keep them in the dry part of the yard. Yeah. Not so much. They got so muddy we had to hose them off before even bringing them into the house. We tried again on Tuesday thinking they yard was that much drier. I didn't get a picture of it, but Miss S ended up rolling during one of the chases and was completely coated in mud, turning a completely different shade of gray. Needless to say, they got another bath on Tuesday. Finally, today, they were able to run and play without needing a bath afterward.

Miss B. She was this color when she went outside, and was the same color when she went back in (not grayish black and coated in mud)!

Miss M has been growing non-stop. Last weekend, she weighed 23 pounds at the vet. That means that she gained over two pounds a week since the last vet visit 3 weeks ago.

Look how broad her chest is! Our little girl is growing up too.

The next picture didn't turn out quite like I had expected. I was trying to take a picture of Mr. M and Miss M, but she moved at the last minute. Instead, I got a picture of what looks like a mutant zombie monster dog. At least it's a cute mutant zombie monster dog.

Nap Time

1/25/2015

Sometimes a girl just feels like a nap. Miss M is finished with her puppy shots and has her very own microchip. Notice the big-girl bling.

Puppy Lessons and Rainy Days

1/22/2015

When you have puppies running around, you learn all kinds of things you never knew before. Take the subject of volley balls for example. Did you know that underneath the outer part there was a plastic bag of some kind surrounding an inner ball? Neither did I, but Mr. M volunteered to show us after he got bored playing fetch with the whole volley ball.

Teamwork on pulling apart the rest of the volleyball. Note the plastic all over the floor that was around the inner ball.

Miss M working on the inner ball in peace and quiet

Just about the time they were finished with the volleyball and we wanted to take them outside to run around, it started to rain again and our backyard reverted to its previous lake-like state. We were just talking the other day about how when we first got Miss B and Mr. C and were trying to potty train them in the middle of the Texas summer, we made the comment that it would be so much easier to potty train in the winter. Hah. In the summer, we had to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts to keep the mosquitoes away, but the puppies could go outside and run around the yard as much as they wanted without even getting their feet dirty. Our white kitchen floor pretty much stayed white. At that point we were complaining about the heat and mosquitoes, but there wasn't anything really keeping the puppies from wanting to go outside and potty. Now that we are potty training in the winter, we have decided that we were previously mistaken. Heat and mosquitoes are easier to deal with than this:

There's a yard under there somewhere...

I finally got Mr. C and Mr. M to potty outside, but the girls wanted nothing to do with all of this while it was still raining. Miss M held it as long as she could and then used the puppy training pad inside. As much as I would like for her to potty outside, I really can't blame her. Once the rain stopped, we were able to get them to go outside. Apparently water is okay as long as it is not falling on your head. Mr. C found the small branch that had fallen down during the storm and thought Dad was wanting to play when he picked it up.

I don't even want to know what he would be like if we gave him caffeine!

Miss B likes to keep Dad company

Once the temperatures started dropping again, Miss M decided that she had had enough and that she needed to take a nap beside Mom. She can't quite jump up on the love seat by herself but has figured out that if she makes a little noise, Mom will lift her up. (This is the only piece of furniture they are allowed on).

Miss M supervising Mom's blogging efforts

The Art of Posing... or Lack Thereof

1/21/2015

From what I have gathered after trying for a while to take pretty pictures of our puppies, putting a puppy into a pose and getting it to stay there is an art in itself. Luckily, puppies sometimes just pose on their own. Take Miss S for example. In the title picture at the top of the page, it looks like I had her sit by Miss M and then look at the camera. What actually happened is that I put a blanket on the couch that I wanted to use to take a picture of Miss M while she was sleeping. Normally our puppies aren't allowed on the couch, so as soon as Miss S saw me putting Miss M on the couch, she jumped up on the couch too- hoping to be able to stay up there since the baby was there. She snuggled right up to Miss M and tried to take a nap too. It was really cute, so I just let her stay there and took pictures. She heard the camera making noise and opened her eyes to look at me just as I took that picture.
Our puppies all secretly think that they are people. We let them sit on the love seat, and they lean on the arm- like they are people too because that's what we do. So again for the picture of Miss S and her rock in the lat post, I just let her sit there with her rock and took pictures as she happily went about chewing it.
I would totally like to take credit for any of the cute poses, but our puppies are just natural models I guess.

Sunshine and Rocks

1/20/2015

I'm not totally sure what the deal is with puppies and rocks. I think the one thing they like more than chewing on rocks is sitting on the sofa, but sitting on the sofa while chewing on a rock... Now that's living! Miss S found this rock in the yard and brought it in with her.

A couple of days ago the strangest thing happened. This really bright ball appeared in the sky and almost dried up the yard. General consensus was that it is a rare creature called a "sun." We haven't seen it in a while. I was beginning to think that it was merely a thing of legend. But sure enough, it does exist. From what I understand, we are supposed to get more rain again later in the week, but I am trying hard not to think about that right now.
The puppies have been enjoying being able to play in the yard without their sweatshirts. The first few times we took them out, Miss M looked like she was trapped in a tractor beam whenever she got out into the sun. She slowed down, stretched out and just soaked in the rays.

Miss M trying to soak up the last of the sunshine in the yard

Miss M and Miss S playing chase around the big tire

Miss B and Mr. C supervising in the yard

Group play. Miss B was standing by Dad

It's been a while since they've really been able to get out and run. Miss M isn't quite finished with her puppy shots yet, so we haven't been taking the bigger puppies on walks so that we can avoid them being exposed to something around the neighborhood and then bringing it back to her and making her sick. So for the past few weeks, we have just been playing in the house, which is fun but fairly limited.
So finally, they were allowed to play unrestricted in the yard. They took turns finding little sticks and then showing the others so that they could chase each other around the yard and try to keep the stick from the others. Miss M is surprisingly fast and good at keeping the stick away from the bigger puppies.

Sweaters and Heartworm Prevention Treats

1/16/2015

So, it is still cold around here, and we are still experimenting with puppy clothes. Miss M and Mr. B over in Chicago (here is their website) said that they often use human clothes because they are more versatile. After experimenting with a sweatshirt with Mr. C, we decided to follow their advice and get sweatshirts for the others too. We trimmed up the arms and made cutouts in the front for potty breaks. They aren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and at this point, our kids look like the rough kids in the neighborhood. For a first attempt though, I am pretty happy with them. The puppies really like them and have been wearing them in the house too- especially for their naps. They get very concerned when we take them off- like for instance when they are covered in mud from unauthorized zoomies in the yard and have to be washed...

Temperature still cold. At least is was a more humane time this morning instead.

Muddy and ready to go steal lunch money... but warm

Mr. M: "I hear the neighbor kids getting ready to leave for school. Surely they must have lunch money we can take." Miss M: "What is a neighbor kid?"

Mr. C leading everyone to the gate to go find lunch money to steal. Miss M: "Wait for me. I like lunch money too. What is lunch money anyway?"

Miss B telling Dad on the other puppies

The puppies were ushered away from the gate and back to the house. Mr. C was assured that they already had plenty of food in the house and did not need to steal lunch money. As it turns out, Mr. C really wanted the lunch money so that he could buy an iphone. They are not allowed to use the phone because of all of the long distance calls to Chicago to talk to Miss M and Mr. B and to Florida to talk to Wilbur on the Knotty Cat about sailing.

Miss B told Mr. C that the gate was painted red like a stop sign because they were supposed to stop at the gate. He told her that she was a tattle tale.

On a less thuggish note, all of the big puppies got their heartworm prevention treat yesterday. Miss M doesn't get to have one until after her last set of puppy shots, so she got a regular treat instead so that she wouldn't feel left out. Then Mr. M, Miss S and Miss M got stickers showing that they had their heartworm treats. Mr. M moved while Mom was putting his on, so he got a sticker on the nose instead of on the head. Miss B and Mr. C decided that they were much too cool for stickers.

Sweater Shopping in Texas

1/13/2015

It's always been rough finding good quality cold weather gear here in Texas- especially along the coast. Before the internet was what it is today, you really couldn't find any decent cold weather stuff even for people, much less dogs. Thanks to the technology we have now, you can order just about anything from anywhere and have it shipped in, but if you need something right away, it becomes an issue.
Our puppies get cold very easily, and we finally decided that since this weird cold, wet weather that we have been having lately doesn't look like it really wants to go anywhere any time soon, we need some sweaters for our poor freezing puppies to wear when we take them outside. What we are discovering however is that there isn't much of a selection in sizes that will fit our puppies. We found some purple ones in medium and large that we hoped would fit the littles at least, but as I discovered when we got home, the medium only just barely fit Miss M- like a stuffed sausage- and the large wouldn't fit Miss S or Mr. M. That is odd sizing. We tried the large on Miss M and it fits very nicely. Seriously? I know that Miss M is growing fast, but large?

Miss M with her medium sweater. Note that it is not quite long enough and is stretched fairly tight in the middle. Also note that the cone is off. YAY!!!

Just to try it, we also bought a men's size medium sweatshirt to try on Mr. C. We wanted small so that it would fit Miss B too, but they were out of small. I need to shorten the arms and hem it up a little so that he can wear it on potty breaks, but he LOVED it. He protested and grabbed my hand gently when I tried to take it off to let me know that he wanted to keep it on. He was so proud of his new sweatshirt. I think I need to check the kids section to see if they have some sweatshirts that would work for the other three.

Mr. C modeling his new sweatshirt. I didn't mean to get safety orange, but that was the only size medium they had.

The two of them felt quite at home in their new clothes and proceeded to show their appreciation by playing with each other while wearing them. They definitely feel right at home in them. Neither of them was very happy when I took them off. We also decided to raise the temperature on the thermostat until we get sweatshirts for the others so that they aren't too cold.

How to Deal with Cold Weather

1/8/2015

As we were trying to figure out what to write in our latest post, the puppies kindly volunteered their blog writing services. They decided that a pitbull's guide to dealing with cold weather might be helpful to other poor mistreated pitbulls whose owners are cruel enough to subject them to frigid temperatures- you know, like anything below 75.

Yes, the time does say 5:18 am, which is a whole different form of animal cruelty!

So here are the tips they came up with:

1.) Don't touch the bare floor! Pretend it is quicksand and avoid it at all costs.

Mr. M defending his box against would-be invading sisters

2.) Convince your people to give you warm goat milk. Miss S pointed out there there are people who advise against giving dogs milk because they are naturally lactose intolerant. She thinks those people are STOOPID and is convinced that they are the same bozos who say that dogs shouldn't eat cat poop- an obvious delicacy. Mom unfortunately agrees with the person on the not eating cat poop part. Fortunately however, she gives them goat milk from time to time as a treat. She dilutes it with warm water from the water dispenser, which is why the puppies get excited any time someone gets water- even at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

3.) Dress for success. Tell your people to get you some jackets and sweaters. If your mom decides to make you a fleece jacket to wear temporarily while you're still growing, make sure she uses the little squares of stick on Velcro. That stuff is an awesome chew toy. It tastes pretty good too. If you can't reach your Velcro, get your brothers and sisters to help.

Miss S' Velcro has already been pulled open here. Miss M is getting help with her Velcro from Mr. M.

4.) The best solution to cold weather of course, is to convince your people that they don't need to get up yet and that you need to be on the bed cuddled up with them. This is a win-win situation. They get to sleep longer, and you get to cuddle undisturbed.

5.) If you are little, the big sad puppy eyes thing can be an effective method of convincing your people that you need a cuddle. On their bed instead of on yours.

On a side note, Mom is convinced that cold weather might be good for potty training. Sure, it might make them want to potty at first, but the minute they go outside, they are motivated to hold it longer to avoid being taken outside again.

Random picture of the puppies working on getting the box of food open. Can you tell that Miss M is in charge?

Hooray for Puppy Shots

1/4/2015

For the past week or so, the weather hasn't cooperated with our picture taking plans. Every time the back yard starts to dry out, it rains again. This has been going on for a while now, so our backyard is a slippery muddy swamp at the moment, making it hard to take any good pictures outside since we can't let the dogs out for their normal running, jumping playtime. Instead, we have been running around the house, which doesn't make for very pretty pictures.
Yesterday, Miss M had a vet appointment for her next round of puppy shots, so all of the puppies got to go for a ride. Since they are all growing so fast, we have to take them all in regularly to get weighed so that we get the right dosage on their heart worm prevention. This time we were shocked. We know Mr. C looked a little bigger than before, but we thought that he might be around 60 pounds. As it turns out, he weighs 71.5 pounds! Miss B went up to 51 pounds, Miss S is already at 49 and Mr. M is lagging a little behind at 43.5. Miss M is over three pounds heavier than Miss S was at her same age. She weighs 16 pounds already- at 10 weeks old.
The puppies were all very happy to visit everybody at the vet's office. They got all kinds of attention. After that, they got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for a while, where Miss S tried her hardest to convince Grandma that she needed to sit in her lap on the couch. Mr. C took up residence on the kitchen floor- where Grandma always hands out stray bits of whatever she is cooking. This time, she was making chicken and dumplings, which was good for Mr. C since he really likes pieces of chicken.

Notice the new size large harness (on the 71 pound puppy)

Miss B decided that she should play with the cat's toys since the cat won't play with her. The cats at Grandma and Grandpa's are very much against all forms of dog, which of course gets the puppies even more excited. They didn't even notice the cat being very quiet on the back of the sofa when they first got there. The cat watched them, being very quiet and trying to blend in with the wall behind her, but eventually, one of the puppies spotted her and they all decided that they should bark at her- except Miss M who was more interested in the puppy toys that Grandma had on the floor ready for them. The four bigger puppies are all more than capable of jumping up on the couch and going after the cat, but they stayed back and just barked. The cat hissed her disapproval at them, and they thought that was the funnest game ever, so they barked some more so that she would hiss some more. It's like an interactive squeaky toy with claws. They don't have any toys like that at home.
Eventually, Grandma rescued the cat and put her outside. Grandpa wasn't in the house at the time or he would have probably waited a little longer to see what the cat would do.

I think the puppies are getting very comfortable with Grandma and Grandpa's house because they used the bathroom more times than they ever have before. Thank goodness for newspaper and poop bags! Mr. M had a good time when he realized he could go up the stairs. Unfortunately, once he got upstairs the first time, he was afraid to come back down. Mom had heard puppy feet on the stairs but got a little suspicious when she didn't hear them come back down again. She went upstairs to see what he was up to, and boy, was he glad to see her. He led her straight to the bathroom (the only room with the door open) and tried to convince her that he should get in the tub to play in the water. (He would have already been playing in the tub if he knew how to turn the water on). She disagreed and led him back to the stairs where she had to work with a little bit to get him convinced that he could go down the steps by himself. Once accomplished he was very proud and went up a few steps again so that he could come back down. It was a good visit.
Sunday morning, Miss M decided she needed to help with the blog to make sure there were pictures of her.

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