We've waited patiently for snow so we could see Bella and Baxter's reaction and finally, it's here! Their response: a bit confused. Every now and then I'd find Baxter on the back porch barking into the air, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" They don't get it.
I think all the excitement wore them out though - they're sound asleep...and it's only 7pm!
Bella and Baxter are doing fine -- my hard drive, not so much. I have to replace it which means time; that of which I have none! Sorry, but no pictures this post.
Bella and Baxter are going to obedience training and doing great! Baxter has become a master with several of the agility pieces; climbing up one side and down the other, through the tube, etc. He's also learning "leave it" which has come in quite handy when we catch him trying to shred the newspaper or snatch a winter scarf from the coat rack!
Bella is learning the basics, too, like the "wait" command, letting me walk all the way around her before I give her the "okay" command to move. It's interesting how she is submissive in class; even peeing on the floor when a big dog comes her way (not bad, just a bit). This is a far cry from her pushy alpha behavior at home! We're working on that, too.
As time goes by, these two have become quite good little dogs. For awhile there, I was wondering if I needed a check-up from the neck up. Whew-ee - they put us through the paces! Now they have free roam of the house (with a watchful eye, of course). We've managed to avoid any eaten couches or chairs, but Baxter has learned to escape the wrath of Bella by leaping up in a chair - a big no-no! As you can imagine, "OFF" is being taught in obedience class!
We had their picture taken with Santa Claus at Petsmart but it was a really bad photo! Santa was a girl who looked a little shell-shocked by the whole event; I suspect she was roped into being Santa as the real Santa didn't show up. Next year we plan to get a better photo from the Oregon Humane Society.
If we ever get snow this year, we'll be sure to take photos of BnB's first snow experience and post them here!
I nervously took Bella in first, leaving Baxter in the car with Maggie. They fawned over her while I thought to myself, "You're in for a big surprise!" They placed her on the table, lifted her up waist high and proceeded to grind her nails using a Dremel. I couldn't believe my eyes! No fighting. No biting. No yelping! I grabbed my cell phone and snapped this picture before it was all over (sorry for the terrible picture but I was in shock!). A mere 5 minutes later - DONE!
I took her out to the car, brought Baxter in and said, "Okay, now - he really IS a tough one."
They said, "Ah, they yell because they think we're going to give in, but we don't," waving my concerns off with a hand.
I said, "Well, he screams...loud. Okay, here ya go!"
Sure enough, Baxter put up a short fight, but she just called someone else over to help, and before I knew it they, too, were done. A few squeals - that's all!
I was so happy with how well this went, I swear, I wanted to hug and kiss those gals.
It's been a while since my last post because, quite frankly, life has gotten in the way. Bella and Baxter continue to grow and eat...everything - baseboards, linoleum, microwave carts, crates, and toys. Now one might think they are bored, left alone too long, or just plain out of control, but let me assure you, they are not bored or left alone -- out of control at times, YES.
Maggie and I were feeling pretty low over the last few weeks; overwhelmed might be a better term, but the bottom line is that we felt like we are failing at being perfect puppy parents. It wasn't until a long ponderous drive home from work had me thinking that we're not unlike parents who just found out their seemingly perfect child has been a total turd in school, behavior out of control, disruptive in class, and thought to be suffering from some sort of incurable brain damage from birth. Yeah, I'd say we were feeling pretty low - a little on the hopeless side.
As quick as I put my finger on that realization, I thought about those parents who are dealing with challenged children. There are 2 kinds of parents: the parents who give up, suffering for the remainder of their lives with children who cannot be controlled, or the parents who straighten up and do whatever it takes to help their children become productive people - they learn what needs to be done, they take the time, and they focus all their attention on the child in order to get done what needs to be done.
Now this may sound a bit melodramatic, I mean, we're talking about puppies in our case, right? It's not that far off - trust me on this! It's hell being perfect! But parents aren't perfect. Parenting is a crap shoot. And we're talking about puppies -- 6 month old puppies for crying out loud!
Once I allowed myself a break, I was ready to straighten up, take charge, and do whatever I needed to do to keep working on these puppies! Are we going to make mistakes along the way? SURE! Are the puppies going to be perfect? Probably not! Is there a perfect dog out there? Not that I know of!
The truth is, we've taught these dogs a lot in their 6 short months. Starting Dec. 1, they're going to obedience training at the Oregon Humane Society. They're doing great at potty training. Yes, they have accidents but most of the time because we're not paying attention to the signs we taught them to give us! They sit. They stay. They wait. And...they catch popcorn! (Listen to them smack their lips!)
That's what it feels like when it's claw trimming day. I'm not sure if anyone else has this problem...okay, yes I am, but this is the hardest bout of claw trimming I've EVER had to do.
Insert photo here because we surely weren't going to take any photos or video for fear Animal Cops would show up on our doorstep!
Our other dogs would wrestle us when they were pups, sure. Eventually they would figure out that having their pedicure was just another canine right of passage. Bella and Baxter have managed to set the bar much higher than our imagination could ever take us!
You'll remember Baxter and his slight problem with screaming, right? This, too, happens at home whenever his little paws are feeling the slightest bit threatened. Bella doesn't scream as much, but for the 17 or so pounds that she is, she has enough will power and strength to take down Godzilla on a bad day.
Today, my plan was to wear gloves --- not latex gloves, not Playtex gloves, but those thick gardening gloves; this in an effort to protect my hands from the respective puppy bites I was sure to endure. We also put the cone of shame on them to at least limit their ability to reach their feet. I had the requisite bowl of kibble treats to hand out frequently, risking the digits necessary to do my daily job and to type this very blog. Maggie put their leashes on them, reducing their ability to bolt. We plunked down a large, fluffy, dog bed in hopes of lulling them into a sense of calm...and then threw down the gauntlet starting with Baxter.
I'd give you the gory details but let's just leave it at all of us feeling like we'd been to a one-legged ass-kickin' contest...and none of us won.
Our biggest concern is this form of trauma can't be good as young pups (nor for adults!). We have to figure out a better method. I took to the internet and got hits for using the Dremel or PediPaw (of which we own and have tried to no avail), peanut butter on a spoon, taking them to PetSmart (the behavior wouldn't stop for them though), and lastly, sedation. - Heavy Sigh - Any ideas?
With faces like these, it's hard to imagine. Not only that, they're totally messing with our "perfect parent" image.
Another first for BnB -- a pumpkin patch! Well, not really a pumpkin patch but one we threw together so they'd at least get to see a pumpkin this Fall/Halloween season. I desperately wanted to take them to a pumpkin patch, but here in the Northwest, it's pretty soggy and muddy. As fond as I was of the idea, I wasn't so fond of the idea of having to put 2 wet and muddy dogs in the car. So here you have the small sampling of photos taken, few in number only because getting both of them to sit, stay, wait, look this way, etc., was next to impossible. (I do sort of wish we had a video of us trying to make all this happen - picture Laurel and Hardy.)
When we first introduced them to the pumpkins, both were a little afraid of those big orange orbs. I actually had to put my hand on the pumpkins and convince them that they wouldn't bite! Once that fear was forgotten, we set the stage...well, sorta.
Baxter was most interested in gnawing on the stem. Bella really couldn't care less. She was mostly interested in rooting around in the leaves. This was as close as we could get to having them both look in almost the same direction!
We decided to split them up and take individual photos. Baxter is actually better at the "sit-stay" command than Bella, however, he hasn't fully mastered the "stay-until-I-say-okay" command. Nonetheless, we were able to get quite a few great shots of him. This is my favorite because, well, he's just so darn cute! A full-ear salute!
I'm throwing this picture in only because it shows the seriousness with which he takes gnawing on that pumpkin stem! Remember, he's teething!
And Bella, our regal little princess. You can tell how much smaller she is than Bax. I'm not sure she was feeling particularly perky that day. She is just entering the teething phase but wasn't nearly as interested in those pumpkin stems as Baxter.
Baxter lost his first three baby teeth (that we know of)!!! *Update - he's now lost 4 teeth. Interesting thing though - Bella spit out Baxter's 4th tooth. We have no idea what sort of shenanigans went on to produce that outcome, but we checked and Bella has lost no teeth, but Baxter was missing another. Go figure.
Here's a picture before:
And after:
They look a little gross because he had been chewing a rawhide. Bleh!
We don't think Bella has lost any yet. She gave us a good view! Say, "Ahhhh!"
On May 16, 2009 our lives changed forever when 2 of the cutest Pembroke Corgi puppies were born. It took us awhile to name them but we finally came up with Baxter and Bella. Baxter is sable and Bella is tri-colored.
This blog chronicles our journey raising these two very rambunctious dogs that we are truly, madly, deeply in love with.
