January 3, 2010

Today's blog is an update of canine issues; being that we will all be starting anew tomorrow I figured I'd wrap up a few things this morning. Last night was another rough one; Tilley was up half the night in, out, in, out and in again. I decided to stay in my own bed this time which enabled me to get a few winks at least. I watched her outside for along while; not sure what was going on with her. She seems fine now; of course she is sound asleep and will catch up today.

Our change of eating structure is going amazingly well. Yesterday I watched Jessie very closely as she finished up her food; I wanted to see that this new behavior was sticking. But she chose not go to her bed but she never left her bowl. She stood tightly against the stove; not moving so much as an inch. She has learned very quickly that when she moves in on someone else's meal; she is removed. After watching her glued to her bowl behavior I asked her to go to her bed; which she did reluctantly. And there she stays until she gets a very LOUD and clear "okay."

I shaved poodle faces and feet yesterday morning; which means we now have a new dog. I cannot believe the transformation of Luke when he gets his face shaved. He goes from a Fozzy Bear type look to Mr. Fancy Pants. I much prefer the Fozzy Bear look but every so often that big fuzz face just needs to come off and start a new. He gets his face washed regularly but being a light colored dog the hair around his mouth stains and it's not a good look. So off it comes and we start the face growing again.

Tilley on the other hand has the most beautiful face; far too pretty to hide behind a mountain of fluff. So she gets her face done more often; and at nearly 13 she is still amazingly beautiful. And speaking of Tilley; she had a little slip up behavior wise lastnight, yes even the incredible Tilley is still a dog. We were finished watching our movie and getting ready to head up to bed when she leaned over and grabbed the last coconut square off the plate which had been sitting right in front of her nose. I reactively yelled out AAAHHHHHH and she dropped it immediately. Being the dog she is; she froze and was mortified by the turn of events. She stood there; as if cast in stone not knowing what to do. We ended the ordeal for her by putting everyone out for what we thought was there last trip out for the evening.

Why had Tilley grabbed the goodie off the table? Unfortunately she has learned a bad behavior by experiencing it often. My son often eats downstairs while watching tv; he most often leaves his dishes and leftovers there on the coffee table. Tilley has learned that the food is up for grabs once all the people have left. This is something we will be working on in the coming weeks(WITH THE HUMANS.)

And speaking about Tilley yet again; her wound which was left from applying bloodroot is healing; slowly but surely. It is difficult to airdry the wound and keep Tilley from licking it. When she does get at it and in attempts to heal it herself by licking; she undoes alot of healing that has already taken place. So with the least amount of bandaging as possibly it slowly healing.

With Monday around the corner Luke will be needing his day off. After slowly getting himself up and at it lastnight after the movie he limped to the door. He was stiff; he's had alot of major exercise over the holidays and is just starting to show his age. When no one calls him to get a move on Monday morning; it will be a welcome one, for all I think. But Monday morning will be my call to get a big move on while the dogs rest