Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Children
My dogs are behaving like children this morning.
Zuzu has marbles in her head. They are rolling around and knocking together and preventing her from thinking, listening, and obeying. And as they roll around and bang into each other, the changing weight distribution is causing her to ping erratically around the house.
Zee is being a baby and is having fun trying to get Zuzu in trouble.
Scenario One, as I walk around the corner -
Zuzu: Bark! Bark! Bark! Bite! (And she has her teeth around Zee's neck)
Zee: Wimper! Help me, mommy! She is soooo mean! (Runs to me, leans on me, gives Zuzu a dirty look then looks up at me with adoring eyes)
Scenario Two, as I sneak quietly around the corner -
Zuzu: Bark! Bark! Bark! (Zee is walking around Zuzu, putting his neck in her mouth. Zuzu eventually takes the bait and begins to chew)
Zee: Wimpers and looks up at me as if he's being tortured.
Scenario Three, as I give them a rope toy -
Zee: Growl, growl, GRROOOWWWLLLL! Don't take my toy. (As he's running and swinging it by Zuzu's face and mouth, back and forth in front of her)
Zuzu: Takes Toy (They tug and wrestle a bit, tails wagging. Zu eventually gets the toy away from Zee.)
Zee: Wimpers ands runs over to me. She is sooo mean to me, Mommy!
Zuzu has marbles in her head. They are rolling around and knocking together and preventing her from thinking, listening, and obeying. And as they roll around and bang into each other, the changing weight distribution is causing her to ping erratically around the house.
Zee is being a baby and is having fun trying to get Zuzu in trouble.
Scenario One, as I walk around the corner -
Zuzu: Bark! Bark! Bark! Bite! (And she has her teeth around Zee's neck)
Zee: Wimper! Help me, mommy! She is soooo mean! (Runs to me, leans on me, gives Zuzu a dirty look then looks up at me with adoring eyes)
Scenario Two, as I sneak quietly around the corner -
Zuzu: Bark! Bark! Bark! (Zee is walking around Zuzu, putting his neck in her mouth. Zuzu eventually takes the bait and begins to chew)
Zee: Wimpers and looks up at me as if he's being tortured.
Scenario Three, as I give them a rope toy -
Zee: Growl, growl, GRROOOWWWLLLL! Don't take my toy. (As he's running and swinging it by Zuzu's face and mouth, back and forth in front of her)
Zuzu: Takes Toy (They tug and wrestle a bit, tails wagging. Zu eventually gets the toy away from Zee.)
Zee: Wimpers ands runs over to me. She is sooo mean to me, Mommy!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Zee is home
Zee came home Saturday night from his heart worm treatments and he seems to be doing fine. He is more lethargic than normal, but he is still enjoying his walks in the morning and evening and occasionally jumping up to bark at a dog walking by.
His shaved spot where he received the injections is a little bigger than last time. You can even see a 'tan line' from the last shaved square. I never considered putting sunscreen on his bald spot!
Zuzu does not understand why he doesn't want to wrestle. She barks, bows, paws at him, pokes him with her nose, and whines in his general direction until she eventually gives up and lays down too. We let her have a romp with her friend Jesse today to get some energy out.
Zee is only on profile this time for 10 days - 2 weeks, so at least it's not a full month like last time. The only bad news is that the vet wants me to wait three months to have him neutered. That would have him fertile through two heats, rather than one as we had hoped.
Maybe Juno will be in the heat the same time as Zu and he can pay her a visit for one more week of fun?!! ;)
His shaved spot where he received the injections is a little bigger than last time. You can even see a 'tan line' from the last shaved square. I never considered putting sunscreen on his bald spot!
Zuzu does not understand why he doesn't want to wrestle. She barks, bows, paws at him, pokes him with her nose, and whines in his general direction until she eventually gives up and lays down too. We let her have a romp with her friend Jesse today to get some energy out.
Zee is only on profile this time for 10 days - 2 weeks, so at least it's not a full month like last time. The only bad news is that the vet wants me to wait three months to have him neutered. That would have him fertile through two heats, rather than one as we had hoped.
Maybe Juno will be in the heat the same time as Zu and he can pay her a visit for one more week of fun?!! ;)
Friday, May 25, 2012
Zee and Zu's New Toy
I filmed this yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. I figured they deserved one day of nice hard play and running before Zee had to go in for his treatments today and then rest for another 'month'.
They had a blast with their new rope!
At the Vet
Zee is at the vet again for his second and third heartworm treatments.
Why do some vets let them watch you as you leave? OhMyGosh it breaks my heart! I prefer when they happily take your dog into the back before you go as if there's a big happy doggy party that they're about to attend.
Not this morning. The lady put the vet's leash on him, had me take mine off, then told me thank you as she continued to type and Zee stared into my eyes like I was abandoning him. It was so hard not to cry! I am such a sap.
We will hopefully be able to pick him up tomorrow night.
I miss him already!
Why do some vets let them watch you as you leave? OhMyGosh it breaks my heart! I prefer when they happily take your dog into the back before you go as if there's a big happy doggy party that they're about to attend.
Not this morning. The lady put the vet's leash on him, had me take mine off, then told me thank you as she continued to type and Zee stared into my eyes like I was abandoning him. It was so hard not to cry! I am such a sap.
We will hopefully be able to pick him up tomorrow night.
I miss him already!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tug of War
Zee is not super keen on sharing toys, but last night, he and Zuzu discovered a super cool game - Tug of War.
They destroyed one toy running around the house taking turns grabbing it from each other, so I collected all of the shredded stuffing, threw it away, then I pulled out the giant rope.
They destroyed one toy running around the house taking turns grabbing it from each other, so I collected all of the shredded stuffing, threw it away, then I pulled out the giant rope.
What fun that was!!!
The Family Totem Pole
Jim
Penny
Tressa
Darby
Zee
Zuzu
(At least that's how Zee sees it. It's still not perfect, but it's an improvement!)
We've been working on Darby's authority. She has no problem with humans or other animals, but for some reason Zee seemed to think she was a skinny little pushover that he could boss around.
The work has been gradual.
Lots of love, lots of scratches.
Darby feeding him.
More love.
More feeding with commands....COME! SIT! EAT IT!
More directives.....OUT OF THE KITCHEN!
And he began to listen.
Then the funny thing happened. Zuzu pissed Darby off. She's a brat, she can do that sometimes. She was barking and attacking the dining room window because a tiny dog was on a walk across the street. Darby told her to quiet down. She didn't listen. Darby grabbed her. Zuzu did what Zuzu does and turned her teeth toward Darby (she does not bite any more unless she's gnawing on an arm of someone she's wrestling with. She just points her teeth towards you, as if she's letting you know that she could bite you if she wanted to, kind of like a little kid sticking his tongue out at you.) Darby threw her down and pinned her and let her know that pointing teeth is NOT allowed.
Zee saw this.
Zee stared in awe.
When it was over, Zee cautiously wagged his tail, and sniffed Darby. He went and got a toy, and brought it to Darby, wagging his tail. She took it and gave it back. He rubbed his face against her leg as she scratched his ear and he looked up at her with his super sweet, adoring expression.
It was quite amusing, but pleasing to see.
We'll see how it progresses from here!
Many Pictures
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| Hanging out on the stairs |
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| Dinner - YES! That's raw chicken. Om Nom Nom!! |
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| Don't worry, Zuzu gets some too. :) |
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| "Pretty" Boy |
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| And all of his manhood disappears, as he steals Zuzu's pink squishy bone! |
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| The Mole - I'm not sure which dog got it, but they left it on the patio for me. Jim wanted to kill it the week before, but I wouldn't let him. Apparently, the dogs agreed with Jim....only THEY are allowed to dig in the back yard! |
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| Naptime in front of the TV |
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| Helping me organize my treasurer files |
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| Tressa took this one with her phone. I love the smile and the sparkle in his eyes! |
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| Tressa took this too |
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| And another Tressa pic. Yes, I'm in my pajamas. It's Saturday - I'm allowed! |
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Designating Alpha
Two dogs are fun, but Oh So Challenging!
We have had a couple more fights and some authority issues with the kids, or specifically, Zee and Darby.
The dog fights are food related and unpredictable. One day they'll share all of their food, while the next day they'll tussle over a smell of something that's not even for them. The fights are scary, but luckily they seem to have been all noise and teeth on fur, with no dog getting hurt. Jim got bitten breaking one up, and Darby got bitten by being right in the way of one and not being able to get out of the way. She was only bruised by teeth, but it frightened her and made her angry.
Zee will also NOT listen to Darby. As it turns out, he thinks she's beneath him and he will outright ignore her, or even snap at her if she's forcing him to do something. He did the same thing to me the first week...bit my hand when I tried to force him somewhere that I wanted him to go. I yelled at him fiercely and grabbed him hard and put him RIGHT where I had wanted him and he submitted immediately and has not done it since. Darby was too startled to react like that (nor would I want her to) when she got snapped at, so I ran in and laid him down. That helped with the immediate behavior, but not with Darby's authority over him. He did not break skin with either of us.
It's not that they don't love each other either. There are still super happy greetings and lots of cuddles, he just does NOT want her to be boss.
So, we have some retraining to do. Again, I went to Cindy. (Thank you, Cindy!) There was quite a bit that I didn't know.
Dog Fights - They happen! Where there is competition, there is fighting. It makes sense; they can't argue. The best way to prevent it is to avoid the competition. So, no feeding jointly and no hanging out in the kitchen when there are yummy smells.
Breaking up dog fights - Grab tails and hind legs, never heads or collars. That makes perfect sense when you hear it, but when they're fighting with all of those teeth, our first reaction was always to make them stop biting. That's how Jim was bitten. Also, the girls should NEVER break up a dog fight. As Cindy said, better dog stitches than girl stitches. Of course, as I'm typing this Tressa tells me that she has broken up two fights, one an escalated wrestling match in her bedroom and the other a legit fight over food. The wrestling match ended with her throwing both dogs down in her room, and during the actual fight she grabbed Zu's tale and pulled her back hard, then smashed her onto the floor, holding her down. I told her never to do that again (unless it was on the lacrosse field to the opposing team).
Make Zee the doggy alpha - This was the coolest advice so far! I never realized how much more peaceful life could be if the dogs know the proper order of things. Feed Zee first, put his leash on first, let him go out first, greet him first. It has taken one day to have Zu sit patiently while Zee goes first. And now, I don't have two giant beasts pushing me over, competing for first with everything! Ahhhh :)
Training Alpha - we haven't done this yet, but the next step, probably this evening when we have the whole family home, we will do obedience in sequence with Zee. With a lead, Jim will have him come and sit, then I will, then Darby will, then Tressa will, so that he can see that the kids are above him too. We did a quick test last night when Jim came home and Darby and I were heading out, but we weren't using a lead and it did not work at all. Jim called Zee. He came right over. Jim said sit. Zee sat. I called Zee. He bounded over. I said sit. He sat immediately and watched me to see what was next. Darby called Zee. He glanced sideways at her. She called him again. He turned his back to her and laid down!
More to follow, I am sure!!!
We have had a couple more fights and some authority issues with the kids, or specifically, Zee and Darby.
The dog fights are food related and unpredictable. One day they'll share all of their food, while the next day they'll tussle over a smell of something that's not even for them. The fights are scary, but luckily they seem to have been all noise and teeth on fur, with no dog getting hurt. Jim got bitten breaking one up, and Darby got bitten by being right in the way of one and not being able to get out of the way. She was only bruised by teeth, but it frightened her and made her angry.
Zee will also NOT listen to Darby. As it turns out, he thinks she's beneath him and he will outright ignore her, or even snap at her if she's forcing him to do something. He did the same thing to me the first week...bit my hand when I tried to force him somewhere that I wanted him to go. I yelled at him fiercely and grabbed him hard and put him RIGHT where I had wanted him and he submitted immediately and has not done it since. Darby was too startled to react like that (nor would I want her to) when she got snapped at, so I ran in and laid him down. That helped with the immediate behavior, but not with Darby's authority over him. He did not break skin with either of us.
It's not that they don't love each other either. There are still super happy greetings and lots of cuddles, he just does NOT want her to be boss.
So, we have some retraining to do. Again, I went to Cindy. (Thank you, Cindy!) There was quite a bit that I didn't know.
Dog Fights - They happen! Where there is competition, there is fighting. It makes sense; they can't argue. The best way to prevent it is to avoid the competition. So, no feeding jointly and no hanging out in the kitchen when there are yummy smells.
Breaking up dog fights - Grab tails and hind legs, never heads or collars. That makes perfect sense when you hear it, but when they're fighting with all of those teeth, our first reaction was always to make them stop biting. That's how Jim was bitten. Also, the girls should NEVER break up a dog fight. As Cindy said, better dog stitches than girl stitches. Of course, as I'm typing this Tressa tells me that she has broken up two fights, one an escalated wrestling match in her bedroom and the other a legit fight over food. The wrestling match ended with her throwing both dogs down in her room, and during the actual fight she grabbed Zu's tale and pulled her back hard, then smashed her onto the floor, holding her down. I told her never to do that again (unless it was on the lacrosse field to the opposing team).
Make Zee the doggy alpha - This was the coolest advice so far! I never realized how much more peaceful life could be if the dogs know the proper order of things. Feed Zee first, put his leash on first, let him go out first, greet him first. It has taken one day to have Zu sit patiently while Zee goes first. And now, I don't have two giant beasts pushing me over, competing for first with everything! Ahhhh :)
Training Alpha - we haven't done this yet, but the next step, probably this evening when we have the whole family home, we will do obedience in sequence with Zee. With a lead, Jim will have him come and sit, then I will, then Darby will, then Tressa will, so that he can see that the kids are above him too. We did a quick test last night when Jim came home and Darby and I were heading out, but we weren't using a lead and it did not work at all. Jim called Zee. He came right over. Jim said sit. Zee sat. I called Zee. He bounded over. I said sit. He sat immediately and watched me to see what was next. Darby called Zee. He glanced sideways at her. She called him again. He turned his back to her and laid down!
More to follow, I am sure!!!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
So Much!
I know it's only been a week and a half since I wrote, but it truly seems like forever. So much has happened that I don't think I'll be able to cover it all properly.
We went to our first dog show! There were so many exciting things about that weekend!!
- Zuzu and Zee rode in crates to the show and were fine.
- They hung out in crates in the van during the show and were fine. It was gorgeous out, and I kept all of the doors open for them so that they could see out and feel the breeze, and they seemed really happy and relaxed.
- Zuzu and I learned how to walk in a ring. She was fine unless she could see Zee. Then she only wanted him and didn't want to listen.
- Zee tried to pick fights with Dourado. Apparently having another unaltered male Estrela around was not okay with him. He was a brat!
- I finally got to meet Cindy and Tracey and they were amazing and nice and helpful and it was so much fun! And we went to PF Chang's for dinner and later they brought over a new type of beer that I really liked.
- I survived in a hotel room by myself with two dogs.
- The dogs learned how to use the hotel room as a playground and jump from bed to bed, wrestling around.
- Both dogs came home with ribbons!
Zee came home with us.
- Yes, he was supposed to head down to North Carolina after the show.
- Yup. He came home with me instead.
- Really now, did that surprise ANYONE?
Zee went to the doctor.
- Yes, he went to have his boy parts removed.
- No, it didn't happen.
Zee has heart worms.
- Yeah....THAT was a fly in the ointment that I wasn't expecting.
- Two trips out to McLean for me (oh how I hate 495!) and an overnight stay with a painful shot for Zee, and we came home with a ton of meds and an order to stay calm for 30 days until the next treatment.
- A wait of at least two months before he can be neutered. Sigh.
- At least one heat to get through. Sigh. Belly bands. Sigh. Does anyone know how to teach a male dog to EMPTY his bladder? Sigh.
Home Again
- Now we're working on teaching the dogs to play calmly. Hahahaha!
- They are getting better. This morning they had a fun game of 'trick you out of your rawhide' going. Zuzu's ploy is to rub her face all over Zee's until he drops it and then she snags it. Zee pretends to see something outside, causing Zu to jump up, dropping the rawhide to bark, then he grabs it. He got bored first, so she started tossing it to him. He did not toss back.
The Fox
- The fox is back. I don't know where he lives or why he visits, but he is the biggest, prettiest, red fox that I have ever seen. His tail is so big and fluffy that it's easily half of him.
- The dogs love the fox.
- The fox knows that the dogs can't get him.
- This is not a good combination when we're supposed to be keeping Zee's heart rate down.
- The fox seems to know this, does not care in the least, and has changed his normal walking path to go straight up the pipeline break....along my fence. Damn fox!
So, that's where we are. Not the life I had just over a month ago, that's for sure.
We went to our first dog show! There were so many exciting things about that weekend!!
- Zuzu and Zee rode in crates to the show and were fine.
- They hung out in crates in the van during the show and were fine. It was gorgeous out, and I kept all of the doors open for them so that they could see out and feel the breeze, and they seemed really happy and relaxed.
- Zuzu and I learned how to walk in a ring. She was fine unless she could see Zee. Then she only wanted him and didn't want to listen.
- Zee tried to pick fights with Dourado. Apparently having another unaltered male Estrela around was not okay with him. He was a brat!
- I finally got to meet Cindy and Tracey and they were amazing and nice and helpful and it was so much fun! And we went to PF Chang's for dinner and later they brought over a new type of beer that I really liked.
- I survived in a hotel room by myself with two dogs.
- The dogs learned how to use the hotel room as a playground and jump from bed to bed, wrestling around.
- Both dogs came home with ribbons!
Zee came home with us.
- Yes, he was supposed to head down to North Carolina after the show.
- Yup. He came home with me instead.
- Really now, did that surprise ANYONE?
Zee went to the doctor.
- Yes, he went to have his boy parts removed.
- No, it didn't happen.
Zee has heart worms.
- Yeah....THAT was a fly in the ointment that I wasn't expecting.
- Two trips out to McLean for me (oh how I hate 495!) and an overnight stay with a painful shot for Zee, and we came home with a ton of meds and an order to stay calm for 30 days until the next treatment.
- A wait of at least two months before he can be neutered. Sigh.
- At least one heat to get through. Sigh. Belly bands. Sigh. Does anyone know how to teach a male dog to EMPTY his bladder? Sigh.
Home Again
- Now we're working on teaching the dogs to play calmly. Hahahaha!
- They are getting better. This morning they had a fun game of 'trick you out of your rawhide' going. Zuzu's ploy is to rub her face all over Zee's until he drops it and then she snags it. Zee pretends to see something outside, causing Zu to jump up, dropping the rawhide to bark, then he grabs it. He got bored first, so she started tossing it to him. He did not toss back.
The Fox
- The fox is back. I don't know where he lives or why he visits, but he is the biggest, prettiest, red fox that I have ever seen. His tail is so big and fluffy that it's easily half of him.
- The dogs love the fox.
- The fox knows that the dogs can't get him.
- This is not a good combination when we're supposed to be keeping Zee's heart rate down.
- The fox seems to know this, does not care in the least, and has changed his normal walking path to go straight up the pipeline break....along my fence. Damn fox!
So, that's where we are. Not the life I had just over a month ago, that's for sure.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
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