Sept. 7, 2010

Day after Labor day and we celebrated with long walk, sitting on patio and eating dog bone-shaped ice cubes.
Tony will be with us almost a year. Each day I reflect ....... am I too boring? Would another family be better for Tony? I look at his face - do i see happiness? At least the dog version of happy. I would love to know what his life was like before. Did his family tell him he was a "good dog" or did they just put him in his crate? I've discovered that he LOVES to sit on the patio's lounge chair. He looks so content - did he do this before?

Molly always seemed to look for her people. It took a long time before she would relax with me and stop searching for them - it was heart breaking.
Tony on the other hand doesn't look in the distance. He walks right next to me. He revels in the food I serve. He protects me. Does that mean my home is a better fit for him? Or that he is given more freedom to be himself?

It is a mystery.

June 1, 2010

I think it was a good doggie holiday weekend even though we had a few bumps - not on our part but on the perception of others.
First, Tony got in a fight with another dog. The good part was he didn't start it. Tony was being nice and the other dog jumped on him. Second one of my other neighbors hinted that he was mean -NOT!. Tony was tuckered out after the excitement of watching chipmunks all day. I don't know if the chipmunks know how hard he works tracking the little furry creatures - he could do it all day!

April 22, 2010

Molly's birthday! She is 9 - here's where everyone goes "where did the time go?" - for Molly and me it's true! I adopted her from PAWS in Mokena, January 14, 2002. I just can't believe we've been with each other that long. I still remember driving her home in the car with her shelter leash on thinking "what have I done?" will I be a good dog mom? and now ..........

Can one dog be more of a companion than my Molly? I don't think it's possible. Truly, my life has become "Everything for a dog"........ I make no excuses for that.

Happy Birthday Molly!

Another milestone

Tony does not like anyone coming to the front door and ringing the bell. So on Sunday when a friend, Mike, stopped by I was presented with a teachable moment.

Here's how it evolved ........ Doorbell rings, Cujo reigns supreme, a little squirt from the water bottle, settling down and goes into room. I let Mike come in and give him a handful of treats. I bring Tony out and tell Mike start tossing treats. Wow - Tony was fine, as a matter of fact I was able to let him run around freely. He went right over to Mike and rolled over onto his back for a belly rub.

Pesky problem

Door bell rings = Tony goes nuts. I don't get that many people coming to my door so we don't get much practice. Today I discovered a new approach to the door issue - my trusty squirt water bottle. Door bell rang, Tony goes nuts, I give command, Tony maintains the high level of alert, Tony gets a little squirt from the bottle. It worked! Treats did not because of the high level of alert but the little shot from the bottle broke his concentration so he could listen to me. Let's hope this will work because it is a great tool. Allows me to effectively address his bad habit.

I so wished I could have taken Molly and Tony to Midday Madness, maybe next year.

Tony had his room cleaned yesterday. He actually kicked out the cute little gray blanket that I placed there so he could snuggle - I guess I was WRONG. He actually pushed it with his nose so it would be outside his room.

Guess he told me!