Jacket = Racket

Leeloo's repertoire of things she hates is either growing or they're finally surfacing. So the last time I went home to Houston, my father was unrecognizable in his big puff jacket and his lumbering through the doorway sent the dogs all a tizzy. Oi...that was a nightmare. But, I thought this was just an isolated incident. They weren't in a familiar place and my parents made it sound like Hitch was the one who instigated the bark-fest. It was not until my cousin came over yesterday that I realized that Leeloo may very well be afraid of large jackets. My cousin, Oli and LL never started on the right foot. Oli treats dogs with the respect of a 3 year old: pulling tails, messing with the ears...sticking her foot in their faces. Leeloo was not about to have any of that, and kinda snapped on Oli's foot...once...but

Anyway, my cousin came over for dinner (in her giant pea-coat), and Leeloo started GROWLING at her the second she came in. They never had a great relationship, but Oli and LL have seen each other a few times after the incident. I could not get a handle on why she kept growling. I thought maybe it was the jacket...while it didn't totally solve the problem LL backed off...slightly. And now they're best friends.

Hyperbole and a Half!

* Shout out to Seebie-jeebie via Ms.HoneyDew for sending me this bloglink!

WOW...what a great entry! I'm a big fan of this comicblog and soooo glad Hitch and Leeloo are fairly confident, smart, and easy to love puppies. They may make a mess, but I applaud and appreciate their interest in new things and ability to mentally process their surroundings. Where the dogs differ is Hitch is fearless in social situations while Leeloo can be quite timid and wary. On the other hand, Leeloo tackles physical obstacles head on and Hitch is much more unwilling and reserved. For example of a social interaction, Hitch has never met anyone who isn't immediately his best friend. Leeloo...may try to bite your hand off if you sneak a pet on her. Physical challenge - Jungle gym slide and draw bridge: Leeloo was running up and down that thing, running down the slide ramp and jetting across the draw bridge like a 3 year old after an expresso shot. Hitch hightailed outta there after his first wobbly drawbridge attempt.

Oh puppies.

But I digress. Read this blog entry about how some dogs can't comprehend the notion of a move. Hilarious. So glad I have smart dogs...mebbe too smart.
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogs-dont-understand-basic-concepts.html

Tempo Tantrum

Leeloo doesn't take a break from destroying things, even over the holidays. For Thanksgiving break, I went home to the Sland to visit the rents. Of course, while I'm in town, I want to spend as much time with my Mom and Dad as possible. So, off I went grocery shopping, errand running, etc etc. To make things worse, it was colder than heck this weekend!!! And being the hass that I am, I didn't bring enough warm clothes with me, so the walks were short and brisk. The lack of exercise is probably to blame for LL's tissue and and paper tearing tantrums. Or maybe she's not used to my parent's house? It's probably a little bit of each. Hitch came over to keep her company, and they still got into trouble...ate two bottles of herbal supplements, a few postcards, a few bamboo brush, and a few more packets of tempo. Thank goodness there was no 11 hour puke session.

My whole family finally got to take her to the dogpark together. It's usually just me and my dad. Leeloo was being a good doggie citizen (for the most part). There was one dog she didn't particular like, she tanked a poodle, and ran over another dog whilst in chase mode. All in all, a productive park day. She got a good run in and got a little muddy, but was an angel when I hosed her down. She spend the rest of the day, while we were running errands, sleeping like all good puppies should. I'm sure she can't wait to get back to her old regulated schedule in Dallas. Oh...dogs are such creatures of habit.

Tea Party Massacre

Ah if only the title could say the same thing for the *ahem* situation but alas it describes the state of my living room as it appeared Friday evening after coming home from yet another long, drawn out, some how unproductive, fully of interruptions, drive me up the wall, day of work. MY BASKET OF TEA!!!!!!!! NOOOOOoooooOOOo~~ The damn dogs ate all of it: Oolong, Earl Grey, Steel Quanin, Genmacha RAWR!!! Dangit! Way too many consecutive shenanigans recently. Until further notice, the children have been banished to the bedroom while the two of us are not at home. I haven't the foggiest notion what their problem is. But this behavior NEEDS TO STOP. My stress levels at work are at an all time unhappy high, so it would be ideal for my sanity to have a little less stress in my home life. Damn dogs! We knew they have eaten way way WAY too much tea, so there would be some icky poops and pukes a little later. So IMMEDIATELY took the two hellions out for a long walk to let all the junk come out at whatever end it needed too. I have never seen Hitch throwup so much in my life. Giant HUNKS of tea balls. Wow...and the insane amount of caffeine only exacerbated the whole mess of things. Oi...this was not how I imagined spending my Friday night!!

Today, I didn't come home to utter destruction. It was nice. I wish I could say the same for my work environment. Ugh.

Players!

*That Great Dane pup looks like my Charlie Boy even though he was a GSD. I miss him :'(

Ah the wonders of Doggie Daycare and the awesomeness of Downtown Dog is all so magical. So a few weeks back, we've been incredibly concerned about little LL's dog-to-dog skills. Well, DTD has given her the opportunity to really blossom! She started off scared as shit and biting fingers to being a "Player"! Yesterday, the manager told me that Hitch and Leeloo were selected to be Players. Players are dogs that introduce new daycare dogs to the rest of the pack. They're like little doggie ambassadors. They check out the new pup, let him know that it's cool, and play with him a little to get him excited to meet all the other pals! And they both did great!!!! I feel so proud that my awkward dog has improved so much! She's social enough to make new friends and play such an important role in another puppy's social development??!! Wowwie I'm an ecstatic mom. GO LEE! GO HITCH! She's still got some leash aggression issues, but we're working on that as well. Slowly but surely. Damn Shiba!!

Oh and I got a kudos from DTD as well. I love them so much I gave them an awesome rating on yelp...SO I GOT A FREE DAY OF DAYCARE!! I mean, it's not much, something like $10. But I'll take my wins where I can!

Green Pea Poop

I think the kids aren't getting enough walkie-walks, hugs, or love. They've been acting out by getting into trash and groceries more than usual. Yesterday, we forgot to close our pantry door and little Hitch made a huge mess of things. He ate through 4 bags of walnut cookies, the rest of the grape nuts, two soy milks cartons, and what was left of my split peas!! If Leeloo were the culprit...there would be a ton more damage believe you me. Needless to say, she got the business too (she probably helped a little). Accountability children. You shall both learn it one of these days. Iron Tyler commented on how the peas had reconstituted themselves after passing through Hitch's system (yeap...Ty loves to look at puppy poop). GROSS. I'll spare you the gritty details of LL's poop, but twas firmer than usual. No visual oddities. I don't examine in depth like somebody. Today, we dropped them off at Daycare so hopefully they got to spend some of that pent up NrG.

LEELOO LAZER EYE RAY OF DEATH!!!!!!

*PEW PEW PEW*

Poot-tooters

* Kimchee from Chowder! He's a cloud of flatulence.

Leeloo is farting a lot lately! Well, she's always had her fair share of burps and farts; now that I think about it. Maybe 3/10 times I give her a big squeeze of a bear hug she goes *buuuuuurp* right in my face. Thanks girl, thanks. And her toots??? Maybe it's just Iron Tyler dropping a silent bomb and then blaming the dog; because her toots smell something FIERCE! Oh Leeloo...so not a lady.

Nicknames

For those of you who do not know, this puppy is dressed as the prince from the Katamari game series (one of my all time favorites!)

I don't know about others, but I have given my dogs and my friend's dogs a lengthy list of possible nicknames. They're not necessarily shorter, most often times, something clever building off their names or a personality trait. This post is inspired by Charlie's nicknames. I guess this whole blog is too. Documenting the kids antics so I'll have something more concrete to look back on when they pass. I didn't do anything like this for Charles, so I only have pictures and abstract memories of our short 7 months together. It's not the anniversary of his death or anything (that's in May) but I guess there has been a few deaths of people I know within days of each other recently, so I'm reflecting on the ones I have lost. Sorry for being so EmO. Blech. Meh, If you're ever in my car, Charlie's collar hangs over my review mirror. It's a sweet collar and cost me a pretty penny so I ain't throwing that away anytime soon. Anyway...the list-o-names in the order of how I met them.


Kiko - Kikkoman, kiko kiko man I want to be a kikoman. (kiko gets an entire song, lucky girl)

Fila - Fluffy Wuffy Princess

Princess Favre Nibbles - Nibbles, Nibbster, Nibbelita,

Charlie: Charles Barkley, Sir Charles, Charley Barley, My Little Prince, stupid dog! DEMON DOG. Charlie Boy. LO CHA (old man in Chinese my rents made that one up) Hope doggie heaven has an endless supply of toilet tissue for you to tear up...

Hitch - Hitcheri-dooda, doo-da, Dr. Hitchenson, Little Boy, Pig, Lone Wolf, Tragic Hero, Fetch Maniac, The Paladin of Pig

Leeloo - LL Cool Jay, LL, LEE!, WOMAN!, Duchess Dollface Nipple Kittcn, Nipple Kitten, Shiba shiba, Little/Sweet Girl, The Viceroy of Vomit

My personal favorite is The Viceroy of Vomit, which LL fully deserves for her record 11hour puke-fest.

Wake Up Call...or puke

BEEF BONES! The culprit to today's wake up puke; courtesy of Miss Leeloo. Beef bones have been the select chew toy of our family, since they are stuffable, natural, and LAST FOREVER. We have two power chewers so anything of less substance would last ehhhhh 5 minutes give or take. Yesterday evening, LL managed to gnaw one in half (plus a few smaller chunks and bits). This is the first time that's ever happened, and honestly, neither I nor Iron Tyler thought much of it. She's eaten bigger things IG: bit of plastic, cloth, etc etc before and just passed it. WRONG! Apparently, she had eaten SO MUCH of it before we took it away, that it overloaded her system. So, when it wouldn't go through the right way...it just went backward. 6am *puke* 7:30am *puke* 8:15 *puke* 8:55 *bile puke* Oi...what a morning

So, my conclusion, is that dogs are FAR WORSE than human children. At least a human child would have the smarts to vomit in a toilet. We took Leeloo on a walk to let her yak to her little hearts/stomach's content OUTSIDE. When 30 minutes elapsed she just peed and wagged her tail with that "it's cold outside I want back in" look, we took her back in. What does she do the second we closed the door inside? You guessed it!! *puke* And why do dogs always puke on the carpet? ALWAYS?! Even though 80% of your house is laminate, hardwood, or tile they always always always find that one little tiny section of carpet that's 1000x harder to clean. *rabble rabble rabble rabble*

Lesson of the day, they tell you to supervise your dogs when chewing on toys not because your dog's an idiot and will try to swallow the whole thing, choke, and die (well maybe) but because they'll get enough of bits in their stomach and hurl their guts out in a few hours. And no one wants that to happen to ANYONE. So take note. ALL OF YOU! Unless you want to be woken up by foul vomit stench ON YOUR CARPET. Oh, AND she managed to puke all over herself somehow, so not only did I have to clean up the house before work, I had to give that little girl a shower too. She's been quarantined in the kitchen while we're both at our respective jobs, but I guarantee she'll have another puke pile for me to clean up by the time I get home. GUARANTEE!

BAD DOG tail tuck. Tsk! Shame on you for eating before the go ahead...

Holes

The Children have been getting into clothes recently. Hitch AND Leeloo have decided to make a nest in my sweaters. Normally, I would object, due to the daunting task of removing intricately woven dog hair (man those pups are true artisans)...but he/she looks so dang cute snuggled in a big mound of clothes. But the snuggle fest may come to a jolting halt! Since, as I said just now, they have been getting into clothes...

Because of Leeloo's neurotic "on leash/reactive dog" behaviors, I take a few bits of kibble in my jacket pocket to distract her on our walks. There must have been kibble remnants (who am I kidding of course there were kibble remnants), because when I came home..."someone" gnawed a hole in my jacket where said kibble was pocketed! Tsk tsk!! But since it was my own damn fault, you can't get too mad. Gotta keep a sharp mind and out fox the fox, in this case dogs. So...big FAIL on my part. The other day, we came home to a half eaten weight lifting glove (sorry Iron Tyler). What inspired the Hitch to tear up and consume part of this glove...I will never know. What I do know is, there will be some straining when he goes a poopin'. Yuck.

LOVE DEM ROIDS!!!!

Leeloo has been on a low dose of steroids since July of 2010. She had a small run in with a tick...got really sick...and the vet is convinced this is essential to her slow but steady recovery. While I agree she is certainly getting more and more like her normal self as the days go on...I think it's also making her NUTS! Leeloo attack x 100. OI!

Well folks...they did it again!! Friday, I came home to a half eaten glove and a gnawed clothes pin. Can't get mad at the dogs for that since it was my own damn fault for not picking up after myself. But, TODAY...today they weren't even tempted by my negligence. They were just being NAUGHTY. Sliced package bread...a whole loaf...STOLEN from the counter. The entirety of it's contents...CONSUMED! By whom? We may never know. Tyler suspects it's Hitch. I do admit, the boy did seem rather bloated. But, when I discovered the evidence...they both did the "uh oh" ears down avoid eye contact face. Hitch went as far as running away and hiding under the bed. Tsk tsk tsk...piggies. No dinner for either of you. Both the kids will learn ACCOUNTABILITY!

Leeloo VS Motorcycle

I don't know where this aversion stems from... But Leeloo hates bikes and motorcycles with every fiber in her body!! She's always been prone to chase things that move (damn Shiba instincts), but when bikes, especially growling motorcycles, go by, she goes NUTS. When there's one roaring by in close proximity of us on our walks, she will lunge into the street to attack it with no regard for her safety. Or mine for that matter. WHAT THE EFF'N HELL WOMAN!!! WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?! Honestly...a hog must've run over her when she was a puppy. That might just explain her broken tail? *sigh* Crazy dog.

Downtown Dog Experience

So, it's been a week since our first experience at DTD and I think it's been good for the kids. Tyler and I brought the kids back for daycare today. It will be a weekly ritual from now on. I bet the dogs LOVE IT (sure beats staying at home all day with nothing to do but sleep). I do wish they could give you a bit more of a comprehensive report on what your dogs did...if they are indeed coming out of their shell etc. etc. All in all, I really like DTD's mission and I think it's doing the dogs some good. :)

http://downtowndogdallas.com/

Daycare...went...ok...on to Day Two

Daycare for the doggies wasn't exactly the nightmare that I had imagined it would be. In my head Leeloo was being dragged out of the facilities in a muzzle foaming at the mouth and being carted off to doggie jail in some sort of Hannibal Lecter-esque harnessing contraption. While Hitch did wonderfully and was accepted into the pack...Leeloo was her usual loner self. Not totally frightened, but hasn't made any new friends. She also did BITE SOMEONE. Well...nipped a trainer on the finger. She was scared, they said. I think she deserves a WORLD OF PAIN. But at least she hasn't been expelled from school.We're on to day two of Daycare before we board them for a full weekend. I think things are improving with our little girl. She was a little reluctant but not nearly as terrified as yesterday. Hopefully she'll make some friends today...on the other hand. Hitch can play fetch all day so he LOVES daycare. I hope this will be a positive step forward in both of their social developments.

First Day of Daycare

So, dogs really are like training wheels for real human children. As I am fond of saying "They cost about as damn much!!" But I was really nervous for the puppies this morning as we dropped them off their first day of daycare. It was a nerve wrecking process these past two weeks trying to find a boarding facility that we felt comfortable with. We played around with the idea of a pet sitter because of Leeloo's somewhat nasty temperament, but the thought of a random stranger coming into our new home just didn't sit well with us. Not only that, but the first pet sitter we called NEVER CALLED US BACK! WTF...

The final decision was to board them with Downtown Dog (Dallas). The facility was one of the smelliest...but I guess that's dogs for you. We loved the social "open play" pack mentality mission of DTD as well as the fact that the dogs are NEVER left alone and aren't locked up in a kennel after hours. It's all open...beds...everything. I really hope that Leeloo warms up to the place soon and will make some friends. It will be good for the both of them to not be so sheltered and learn how to be more comfortable around other dogs. Well hitch is great...it's mainly LL that needs to chill out and stop acting like such a boob.

I just know this will be good for them to interact with other puppies. But in the back of my mind I'm waiting for the phone call " YOUR DOG HAS MAULED SOMEBODY...GET HER TO ***F OUTTA HERE!" NOOOooooooo~~

Some pictures from our first day! New collars and everything! Good luck kiddos!





Leeloo - class bully











Hitch - class cutie

Wanted: Panty Thief

Cute isn't he???
THIS IS THE FACE OF A WANTED PANTY THEIF!!!!! A crotch eating panty thief at that!!! Actually he's more of a underoos MURDERER! Occasionally I will come home to a pair of poor defenseless panties; mangled and torn specifically in the crotch area...
Now dear Hitch. VS knickers normally cost around $5 a pop. Do you have munnies to give me after you ate ANOTHER pair????

Little boy... you need to stop being such a pervert. You're just like your father!

Stopping Traffic

Yesterday on our walk...Leeloo managed to literally STOP TRAFFIC!!! So, we're doing our bi-daily walk in the gayborhood (yes, we live in the gayborhood. If you don't stop ogling my man like he's a piece of meat, I will punch you in the face...other than that...I LOVE IT) and this car pulls up next to me. I'm freaking out a little on the inside, but stay composed (YAY URBAN LIVIN') and this little man in his SUV goes "OMG~~ IS YOUR DOG A SHIBA INU MIX?!?!?!?!" I'm thinking errrr?! Well you're complimenting my puppy so of course I do a 180 and start gushing "Why yes!! She is...at least we think so because EVERYONE says so!!" The little man goes on and on about how he has a shiba and they're just the best dog "Your dog is at least 75% Shiba"... "Wow! You think so?" He compliments how pretty Leeloo is and I thank him as he drives off.

It's so much nicer when people comment on my girl being gorgeous rather than being a meanie. :( We are still working on her public behavior. She's acted up to an Akita and a Goldie. I think she's just being defensive...but she has successfully said "hi" to stranger puppies too.

See...she does have some Shiba in her...

Shiba Inu vs Little Leeloo

The Children

This young lady is the 3.5 year old Leeloo. I believe she is a Shiba Inu / Red Heeler mix... or something. You can't really ever know for sure with these adopted puppies... Occasionally called LL Cool J, derived from LL; Leeloo is just too long to type out sometimes! The girl also responds to LEE. This title is in honor or Rock Lee - The most kick ass ninja in Konoha. Her personality is rough and tough! She's the "big man" on campus and she is kicking ass and taking names. She's a total jerkface in public and her thuggish attitude is backed with honest to goodness street cred. This little girl was found with a tether tied so tight around her neck that she still bears the scares today. We are working on socializing her to be a good doggie citizen. Until then...she might not always be ready to say "hi"...just incase she decides today is your puppy is due for butt whooping cuz he's a wussy. Tsk... Leeloo... That's not very lady-like now is it? Oddly enough she's a TOTAL CHICKEN!! Slightly timid around strangers and loud noises freak the bejesus out of her. And at home with the family - a total love bug even with her older bro...


This handsome little man is Hitch (as in hitch-hiker). He was found on the streets of San Antonio wandering up and down HWY281 trying to hitch a ride. Luckily, this boy was picked up by some nice foster friends...eventually finding his way to Iron Tyler. Originally a little rotund...he has since slimmed down, but is still very much a little piggie. Although, not nearly the drool monster as his sister Leeloo. Hitch is a very different pooch personality wise. He is very friendly to both people and other dogs; with only occasional testicular envy attitude. Hitch LIVES for the game of fetch; it doesn't matter who's throwing the ball as long as it's someone. He is not afraid to steal your German Shepherd's ball either cuz he's faster...fool. We recently discovered his hidden howling abilities!! Hitch is also much more excitable than Leeloo who's a bit more indifferent. He's very silly and looooooves a good tummy rub. Oh, and watch your fingers when you feed him a snack. We're working on that too!

The Start

It's amazing the things our dogs get into... This shall be my archive of joy and frustration of being a dog owner... Those little hooligans never cease to amaze and frustrate me with their doggie antics. They are capable of learning "low 5" and "high 5" but can't seem to fathom the notion that eating roach traps will make you vomit. You think she'd learn after ODing on a bottle of Excedrin. Or at least from the 11 hours of puking aftermath. I said it once and I'll say it again...THANK GOD FOR HARDWOOD FLOORS!