Zuzu's Tale: 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Air Kisses

Zuzu has a strange new habit.... Air kisses!

And these aren't like those polite, three in a row, close to your cheek kisses that you see French people do on TV.

These are where she jumps up on her hind legs to greet visitors, and literally touches her mouth to theirs!

I've tried to analyze this (as I always do) and this is all that I can figure out:

1- She's not allowed to jump and put her paws on anyone, so by leaving her paws by her side, perhaps she thinks this type of jump is 'acceptable'.

2 - I always kiss Jim when he gets home, so maybe she thinks that's what she is supposed to do.

Either way, if we have someone new over to the house that is not used to big dogs, this can be a terrifying experience! My 70+ year old mother-in-law was not okay with it. On the other hand, the high schoolers seem completely amused. :)

Friday, December 21, 2012

Gun Control

Unlike most of the country, which seems to have very strong opinions one way or another, I am pretty middle of the road on gun control. I also understand that not every person loves dogs. I don't understand why they don't, but they don't. And, if they don't love dogs, they should not own them. That being said, this is meant as humor, not political opinion.

OWN DOGS, NOT GUNS

"My top ten reasons why dogs are better than guns"

1. Guns are no fun to cuddle with, won't greet me happily when I come home, and won't help me get exercise.

2. I can sleep soundly at night while my dogs keep watch.

3. A dog will know there is an intruder before I do, and long before I would have a gun ready to defend myself.

4. No one would dare come near me with the intent to do me harm if I have my dogs; there is no such guarantee with a concealed weapon.

5. Though I am a good shot, I do not know if I could hit someone in a panic situation. My dogs won't miss.

6. My dogs will never hurt the wrong person on accident.

7. My dogs could not be stolen and used in a robbery.

8. My dogs could never be used by anyone in my family to harm themselves.

9. If one of my children went insane, he or she could not bring my dogs to school and force them to hurt other children or teachers.

10. My dogs would give their lives to protect my family and me, and they would do it with love.

Photo Update

Zee got to attend a breed familiarization event!

Zuzu waiting for her dinner to be made

An autumn walk around Lake Mercer

Zee's birthday

Zee even got a sweater for his birthday

Fall Lacrosse

Zuzu does more dog shows....one with Darby!

I learn to walk them together. By myself.

We survived a power outage.

Nana with both dogs.

Darby waiting for Zee to get picked up for his super-fun trip to NC over Thanksgiving!

Zuzu caught with glitter on her nose.

Ready for the Army Navy football game.

Zuzu with her Christmas sweater.

Trouble.

Cuddling with her soldier daddy.

Zee's Christmas scarf is ready.

Zee wearing his scarf.

Helping with homework.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Woo Hoo!!!

Zee has been here for five months now. Can you believe it?!

And today was the first time, yes the very first time, that I took them for a walk together.....at the same time.....by myself!

Jim and I walk them all the time. Almost every day. Sometimes more than once a day. And we've been training them, and me, as we walk. We are teaching them to truly "heel", which is to stay behind us for most of the walk, unless we say otherwise. They're getting really good at it. The "training me" part is that I've been, sometimes, the only person walking them, but with Jim by my side.

Together they outweigh me. With two leashes, they could split me apart like a medieval torture device. We have a "magic" leash connecter, however, that makes everything good. Luckily, different things interest them, so they regulate themselves when they're tied together. Still, I've always wanted Jim there as my back up.....just in case.

Today, I was ready. We went out and we did amazingly well!

They "heeled" whenever I asked, sat whenever I asked, both managed to do all of their business without doing it on each other (always my fear when they have to stay close together), and we even encountered most potential challenges and passed the test.

We went by other dogs. We were followed for about 100 yards by Bucky, the unaltered male, standard poodle.....though both dogs walked looking backwards rather than forwards for most of that period. We passed a small road repaving project with a bobcat scraping gravel, and we got got less than a block away from the garbage truck!

I was smart, and I waited until all of the school busses had already gone by for the day, and we didn't see any wildlife out on the walk. Those two things could have put us over the edge for the morning, so I'm very thankful that we didn't encounter them.

Now that the weather is cooling off, we might truly get back into our morning walk routine. :)

Lazy Weekend

Because if you're going to take a nap, why lie down to do it?

Just hanging out in the back yard.

EMDs love when summer's over and it starts cooling off. They're just hanging out, enjoying the breeze, while Daddy splits firewood for the winter.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Occoquan

Last Saturday we went down to the Occoquan National Park. It was a nice, long walk with the dogs. Some along the river, part of the time up in the woods. It was the first 'almost' cool morning that we had had in months, so it was fun!

On the way back, there were more people, but I stepped away to grab a picture of the dogs and Jim near the water with my phone.

It's a good thing Estrelas like babies!

This little one ran right up to the dogs and gave them hugs and kisses! Even crazy Zuzu seems to know that she needs to be gentle around little ones. The dad (with him) told us that the mom is a veterinarian, so the child loves animals.

Zee was super tolerant as well. We only let him pet them for a couple minutes before we went on our way.

And yes, Zee jumped into the water, while Zu barely got her paws wet.

And this was Zee on the way home....one happy, happy, dog!!

The Phone

Have you ever seen a dog do something it shouldn't be able to?

The other morning I was rushing around, trying to get stuff done, and I had misplaced my phone.

Out loud, I asked, "WHERE is my PHONE?"

Zuzu got up, walked to the kitchen table, and poked it with her nose.

You can't make this stuff up!

Spoiled, Rotten, Zee

The other night, I asked Jim to feed the dogs while I was making dinner. He gave them bowls of kibble.

I have given them plain kibble before, especially if there are any belly issues going on, but it had been quite a while since it hadn't been dressed up in some form (cheddar cheese & hot water, cooked meat, broth....whatever).

Zuzu sniffed it, backed up a little, and glanced over at me. I ignored her, so she started eating.

Zee sniffed, looked at me, and I ignored him too.

He sniffed again. He looked towards Jim. He looked towards me.

Then, he picked up one piece of kibble, carried it over to me in front if the stove, dropped it at my feet, looked at me, down at the kibble, then back up at me like, "WTF, Ma?!"

I almost fell over, I was laughing so hard!

I went to the fridge, grabbed lots of doggy yummies, mixed them into his food, and he ate.

Hey - if he's that smart, he deserves more than kibble!

Zuzu Herds a Pedestrian

This one is more funny/strange than funny/haha. About a week after Zu's heat was over, Darby took her out into the front yard to do her business.

I heard her start barking loudly almost immediately, so I headed out to join them. Darby had gotten Zuzu to sit, but she was still barking at an elderly gentleman walking down the street.

The next thing she did was lie down, with her haunches crunched back. For Zuzu, that's her perfect 'spring-loaded attack' position. The unaware human relaxes, and she shoots out!

Sure enough, she was off! Darby flew forward onto her belly and her hand hit the slate border around the base of a tree, causing her to lose her grip on the leash.

Zu ran out to the old man, running circles around him and barking. I ran out and pulled her away. The man just stood there calmly, arms by his side, in the perfect 'Zuzu, I'm not going to either attack OR play' position and once I had her under control, he commented on what a good dog she was and that she just wanted to play.

I don't know about other people, but I don't consider my dog a good girl if she pulls my daughter over and runs, barking, around a poor old man! I was mortified!!

Jim thinks Zu is convinced that Darby needs protection and was just letting the man know that he was not allowed to come anywhere near her.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wrong

I was wrong!

Zuzu went into heat in June. There was swelling and a tiny bit of bleeding and Zee was curious. And then it ended. I thought, “Wow! That was so easy!”

I was wrong.

On August 10th, we noticed blood drops in the front entryway. What is this?

It was more like the heat she had in January - she was a mess! And that was not the worst of it! I e-mailed Cindy (of course....‘cuz it’s what I do!) and she told me this was the “real” heat and to be prepared.

The week after, the 19th-24th, was pure torture. Zee was MISERABLE! He didn’t eat, play, or really sleep for five days. He just cried.

Don’t try to see him in the video....just listen....

This sound filled my house until Wednesday, then the crying escalated to a high-pitched, ear splitting, bark!

The only break we got was at night. Luckily, my mom was in town, so Zuzu slept in the basement guest room with her, while Zee slept upstairs with me. The two floors separating them allowed Zee to finally calm down and get a little rest at night. He still whined, but I’m a super heavy sleeper, so that was okay with me.

Jim was out of town all week at some “Cyber Security Conference Preparation Event”. Does that sound as made up to you as it does to me? I think it was an excuse to hang out in Nevada while the dogs were being rotten. Never mind the fact that it’s been on the calendar since the spring and he had plane tickets long before all of the shenanigans began. I still believe it was all a clever plot.

And conveniently, the barking and whining stopped on Friday.....and Jim flew home at midnight. A little TOO convenient, if you ask me!

Fun Family Visit

The Lenz's came from Texas for a visit.

Uncle Bob had not seen Zuzu since she was a puppy in California, and the rest of the Lenz's had never met either dog. It was so much fun!

There were more people to play with!