Sumi the Complex Cat

OKAY JENNY. You're like the one person who reads this. So, for your entertainment purposes alone...an update.

Our complex has a new tenant. An adorable and super friendly cat that has our little community up in arms trying to figure out who this tame little guy belongs to. So far, no leads. And we've all adopted him. For now, I'm calling him "Sumi" because he's all white with a few faint gray splotches - like the first strokes of (sumi) ink on rice paper. I haven't gotten around to buying actual cat food for him, but he's been downing the milk I've offered. You're a lucky little cat guy...had I not been baking all weekend, there is no cow milk in this house.

And not so luckily, we can't take Sumi in because Leeloo and Hitch will go ape-shit. They've been beyond themselves knowing there is a stinking cat outside their door. Thus I've had to sneak in and out because the cat wants in and the dogs want out so they can settle the score. Exhausting, I know. Well, I did eventually let my guard down, and LL snuck past me and immediately lunged towards the cat. I must have yelled "NO LEELOO NOOOOOOOO" too loud because my next door neighbor popped out to tell me after I managed to wrangle LL off Sumi. "I knew exactly what was happening. Either the dog was mauling the cat or the cat is mauling the dog" Well, thankfully for Sumi , who managed to get a few good swipes on LL *ouch*, escaped without a scratch or bite. I honestly don't know if LL would REALLY hurt a cat or squirrel, but I know she's extremely capable and I don't ever want to find out. Lee must be hurting a little, at least her pride is, as she's been moping around the house after the scuffle.

Sumi for now if spending the evening in the wild. I hope he will be around a few more days (before we find his owner) so we can all enjoy his company.

Hitch has a UTI

Wow, just realized how mortified *I* would be if my mom announced to the world that I was recovering from a UTI. Mwahahaha - my kids are gonna hate me. Whateves

The little boy was having accidents left and right, so we knew something was wrong. He's on antibiotics now, and we're not waiting around till 8pm to go on our walk. We're trying to incorporate a little more citrus into their diet, because the high acidity will kill bacteria in their system. Poor little guy. I hope he feels right as rain soon, if he doesn't die of embarrassment first. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Leeloo vs, Dart Bus

Happy Chinese New Year! May you be prosperous and healthy! Not so many posts lately. After the "tea incident" the children have been banished to the bedroom. With less space to explore or smells to seduce them into trouble. They've been absolute angels.

The recent snow and ice in Dallas has kept me shacked inside my own home. No work for a few days...and all chores have been completed well before the weekend. *sigh* I wonder how house wives do it? I'm already getting kind of bored. LL absolutely LOVES the cold. It's really entertaining to see her attempt to eat the ice, roll around, and slip and slide in it. Leeloo vs snow. Leeloo wins, but Leeloo vs BUS?!?! This is a new development. I thought she just had a hatred toward bikes/motorcycles. Today on our walk she tried to charge a DART BUS! I swear...if she weren't leashed and if I didn't have cat like reflexes...we'd both be dead by now.

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.