Hi all
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I have changed the name of my blog and Facebook page from Two Pups and a Kitty to Three Pups and Two Kitties. Lucy Kitty is deciding that she wants to take part in our stories more often and of course we have added Miss Bessie Sprout Puppy to our family so hence the new name Three Pups and Two Kitties.
As always thanks for taking the time to read our posts. We really appreciate it.
Over the past few weeks we have noticed changes and definite steps in the right direction in several areas. Bess is learning to be more gentle with “Leave It”, I mean Linus. She seems to be realizing that if she is going to play with him she needs to tone it down. Over the past few days I have seen Linus instigate play like he did when she was smaller, before she grew bigger than he.
Belle has relaxed her “I’m the responsible alpha dog” and has been simply having fun playing and snuggling with Bess.
Bonnie is Bess’s favorite when it comes to a partner in crime. The favorites are still socks and towels and they are getting very good at the “Quick, she’s coming” handoff as well as the innocent,” towel, what towel?” and flashing me a “Aren’t I cute, my Margret?”
This week Bess and I will be finishing up her puppy classes then she will take a bit of a break. In the meantime Greg and I will be taking Bonnie and Belle for 6 weeks of Canine Good Citizen test prep classes. Passing the CGC is the next step towards starting Therapy Dog training.
We’ve been doing a bit of refresher work on the very difficult sit/stay and down/stay. Belle, who this is very challenging for, did well the other day when after working on it by ourselves decided to practice in the midst of everyone. She stuck the sit even when Miss Bouncy Bess and Bonnie came by to get in on the treat action. To their credit Bess and Bonnie both immediately sat without being told 🙂
Behavior wise we are working on Bess not chewing up the couch cover, and as soon as we have mastered that task I will be getting new couch covers for our hairy crew, until then it’s just going to look ratty. When we redirect Bess and give her an approved chew toy in an effort to redirect her, she will chew on it when we are looking then switch back to chewing on what she wants to. We rarely have problems anymore with the older pups except for when Miss “I want to see what’s in your coat pockets” Belle snoops in our coats or Bonnie reverts back to puppy mode. However Miss Bess is very sneaky but we have caught on and know that “this too shall pass”
We appreciate you joining us on our Golden Adventure and would love to hear from you. For day to day happenings we invite you to visit our Two Pups and a Kitty Facebook page.
Take care.
Our Girls
Belle (on the left) stuck the sit even with sisterly distractions!
Towel, what towel?
Belle and Bess cuddling on a cold winter day.
Bess and Linus
Wow, where to start.
Bess is sleeping all night, and putting herself to bed if she is tired! Let the balloons and streamers fall from the ceiling!
We had a blizzard last Sunday and Bess got to experience a lot of snow. She had seen small amounts before but not 17 inches worth at one time. At 5:30 that morning when she and Bonnie went out we already had 7 inches of snow. Bess immediately started to bark at the falling snow. I assured her it was fine and she bounded down the stairs barking as she went. Bonnie came up to me with a look that said “I’m the big dog I’ll protect her” “Ok Bonnie Pup, Thanks!” Bonnie then stopped at the porch door, did a slow look up at the sky observing the heavy snow falling, turned and looked at me with a “what is this wet stuff?” look. Then because she is the “big dog” she continued on slowly and cautiously, because there is wet stuff you know, into the pup pen to “protect” Bess.
Bess and Linus have reached a truce of sorts. I still have to tell Bess “leave it” when she starts to play too rough with Linus. Instead of being offended at being called a “leave it” Linus seems grateful and is learning to run a bit faster away while I redirect Miss Bess.
Belle had her surgery to be spayed and had a few hiccups, but is fine. It took a bit longer than usual for her to get the anesthesia all out of her system so she had a puny few days. Then she decided that her incision area needed to be clean, very clean and started excessively licking the area, so enter the cone collar. We tried a donut collar first but Miss “I don’t want this thing around my neck” figured out how to get her front paw through it in an effort to get it off so we abandoned that option and turned to the traditional collar. It’s clear so it helps her to still be able to see everything that she needs to and has done a great job dealing with it. Belle’s stitches come out tomorrow so we are hoping the collar can be taken off then too. The pictures below capture the highlights of the past few days.
Bess checking out the snow
What is all of this stuff?
Bess and Linus
Belle and her fancy dancy they aren’t letting me lick my incision collar
Doing a good job keeping her eye on the ball
Ha! I figured out how to play with my tennis ball!
A peaceful Belle
Snuggle Bunch
Lucy doing her owl imitation
Lucy and Linus Kitties let me know in no uncertain terms that they feel slighted because I haven’t written about them for awhile. So it’s time to fix that!
Lucy in her computer supervisory role
Lucy is 12 years old and is our 4 footed family matriarch. While she tends to be a private kitty, she is my steadfast companion when I am working at the desktop computer or doing paperwork. Her favorite trick is to lay right on the paper that I need to see or stand and fluff out her tail to effectively cover the monitor.
Lucy laying down the law to the pups.
The rule in the house is that the pups all need to respect her, and are not allowed to chase her. Even Bess at 4 months learned that rule quickly.
Laundry Supervisor
Lucy never fails to make sure the laundry won’t fall off the table.
Lucy’s favorite spot
Lucy’s favorite place to curl up is on the back of Greg’s recliner. Her second favorite place to lay is in front of the heat register. Her third favorite is close to me when I sit to read or watch tv. She isn’t a lap sitter but she curls up close on the back or arm of the couch. She does cozy really well.
Lucy is our vocal kitty and will answer you if you talk to her. She and Bess puppy had quite the conversation the other day! Lucy is a forehead bumper, and that is part of our good morning routine. She is starting to slow down and this is the first year that she didn’t climb our Christmas tree. She has been losing weight and hand in hand with our vet we are closely monitoring her health. But so far she is doing fine.
Linus Kitty is a lovable stinker kitty, He thinks he is a Golden Retriever and from the time we brought him home as tiny kitty he followed the pups, especially Belle, everywhere, except outside and that still frustrates him to no end. He has been known to ring the “gotta go” chime in an effort to go out.
He is 1- 1/2 years old and loves to play. So much so that it’s hard to casually pet him because he turns it into let me bite that hand. He is a lap sitter and loves to snuggle although he has this habit of sucking blankets and I’m not sure what’s up with that.
Let’s play!
Linus, Bonnie and Belle
Things have changed a bit for Linus since Bess puppy joined our family a couple of months ago. When Bess first joined our family she and Linus loved to play together and Linus would usually be the one to instigate the play. But Bess quickly grew and her play became too rough for Linus, so much of our time is telling Bess to “leave it” when we hear our non verbal kitty give a yowl. I have noticed lately that Bess is learning how to play more gently and Linus is once again starting to play with her.
During the day we have a child gate across the upstairs doorway so the pups can’t go upstairs but the cats can. The upstairs landing has become one of Linus’s favorite places when he needs a break.
In his safe place upstairs.
Linus and Bess
Ha, you can’t reach me! Notice Belle standing protectively beside Linus.
Otherwise he spends a lot of time just out of her reach.
When Linus allows himself to nap his hang out place is the back of the couch where he alternates sleeping and keeping an eye on things outside.
Linus’s favorite place to lay.
Keeping watch.
Lucy and Linus kitties are a very special part of our family and life quite simply wouldn’t be the same without them.
Belle
Bess and Belle
Bess
Bonnie
Sleep over in Bess’s crate
I love watching our pups sleep. They manage to look cuddly and silly all at the same time.
Bess is growing like a weed, she almost doesn’t fit on her self proclaimed puppy shelf on our coffee table any more.
I have had to intervene in the play between Bess and Linus, Bess plays a bit too rough for Linus’s tastes at times but then other times Linus still instigates the play so they are still fast buddies. Belle will occasionally remind the pair that she was Linus’s buddy first.
Bess is still teaching us about her likes and dislikes, she loves, loves, loves sticks and always has to find one to carry around when she is outside. Her favorite inside toy is the stuffingless fox, I’m not sure what the draw is but it’s the favorite of all three of our girls.
Bonnie continues to morph back into puppy mode, (if indeed she ever left it) to be the first in line to rough house and play tug of war with Bess. But Belle is relaxing her “I’m the mom” stance and is playing a lot more with Bess too so progress is being made.
Bonnie and Belle went to the vet yesterday for their x-rays to check for hip dysplasia. We will get the results from the OFA in a few weeks. Our vets and their staff are fantastic and I trust them fully but it was still difficult for me to leave Bonnie and Belle as they had to be put under an anesthetic for the x-ray. We were able to bring the pups home at the end of the day and this morning they are back to their old selves which this dog mom is happy about.
Bess had a round of tummy rumbles the past few days with several nights of limited sleep for both of us. I am happy to say that with the help of yogurt and bran flakes and medicine from the vet her tummy rumbles have subsided and we both had an uninterrupted sleep last night!
Looking forward to the coming year, not sure what it’s going to hold although we hope to continue with Bess’s puppy classes and keep working toward the Canine Good Citizen classification for Bonnie and Belle.
Happy New Year to you and your families from Greg, myself and our snuggly silly crew!
Hello!
Bessie has had a busy two weeks. She seems more like a Bess than a Bessie and she spends just as much time being called Sprout. The Jolly Green Giant from Green Giant vegetables had a sidekick named Sprout who thought he was big like the Giant. Bess seems to think she can do anything Bonnie and Belle can do hence Sprout.
The pups
Linus and Lucy are getting used to having Bess in their life. Lucy tries to ignore her much like she does Bonnie, Belle and Linus. Linus however is game and he and Bess seem to have fun together.
Let’s play!
Bess is proving to be a quick learner especially where the “gotta go” chime is concerned. She has figured out that ringing the chime means the door opens and she gets to go out in the pup porch and pen. I was washing dishes the other evening and heard the chime. I turned fully expecting to see Bonnie pup imagine my surprise when Bess’s little face looked back at me. I snapped her leash on and out we went. She went right to the bone that the older pups had left on the porch. She wanted the bone and she figured out what she had to do to go out and get it. Not wanting to lose a teachable moment we continued out to the pup yard.
We had our first puppy class last week. Where we learned Find It, Soft Mouth, and Gotcha. Soft Mouth is easily my favorite as Bess has sharp little puppy teeth!
She is going pretty good when it comes to chewing on things. Lucky for her, she joined a family that has an abundance of chewy toys.
So many toys to chose from!
Bonnie and Belle are getting used to having Bess in the mix.
Judging by their looks and behavior they don’t quite know what to think about her but they have figured out that she’s fun to play with!
Bonnie and Bess
Did you see that!
All in all it’s been a good week!
Our pets morning routines differ for each one of them.
Bonnie pup sets off her Bonnie Bark Alarm when she feels it’s time to get up or she thinks she is missing out on something. Thank goodness she is now back to sleeping in past 4:00am. When I open her crate door she just stands there for a bit relishing in the fact that she can come out of her crate but wanting to do so when she wants to.
Belle pup is our late sleeper and will open a sleepy eye to look at me when I open her crate door. Often she stays put to get a few more minutes of sleep. Then she slowly stretches her way out of the crate and into the room and comes to me as if to say “Well Good Morning, I’m up!”
The pups then wait in the living room for Greg to come down stairs and enjoys a quick good morning love and cuddle that starts the day out well for all 3 of them. During the course of the early morning each pup comes to me at separate times for a love and cuddle from me.
Linus kitty will meow a good morning unless he is busy elsewhere in the house. He usually quiet in the morning unless he is mousing then he’s anything but quiet! Linus is still learning that cuddles are a good thing, he prefers quick drive by pats.
Lucy our matriarch kitty greets us with a good morning meow then proceeds to follow both Greg and I from room to room and surface to surface until she gets a good morning hug and a cuddle. If we don’t see or hear her she reaches out a paw as we walk by and snag us which usually works well to get our attention.
No matter how they greet us, the morning isn’t complete without their good morning greeting.
Now that things are settling down and there is a bit more time I decided it was time to start working again with Bonnie and Belle on leash walking. We live in the country and have a long lane which makes it the perfect place to start practicing. After they remember how to walk on a leash politely then we will start going into town to practice. Our goal is to be able to take them with us when we go to antique car shows, parks, parades ect…
I’m taking the pups out one at a time for a couple of reasons. First so we have some one on one time and second because combined the pups almost weigh as much as I do so it’s easier for me to control one at a time.
Belle got to go out first this time She did pretty good staying by me and walking at a fast but controlled speed. She did a great job listening to the “leave it” command when a bunny ran not once but twice in front of her. She also did great when I told her to “leave it” when she saw a cat cross the road a few feet from her. She did get scared though when a big truck zoomed passed our lane we were close to the road. We also practiced sitting a few times during our walk.
When it was Bonnie’s turn she kind of wiggled, hopped, and really wanted to run. Luckily the bunny stayed in the corn field this time as did the cat. Because I have a feeling she wouldn’t have listened to the “leave it” command as well as Belle did. However she didn’t have much of a reaction when it came to traffic passing our lane. When we practiced sitting during our walk she gave me a look that said “You want me to what?! “I mean there’s all this exciting stuff out here to explore and you want me to sit!” But even though she didn’t want to she did eventually sit.
All in all both pups did very well for the first night of our refresher course in polite leash walking.
I just have some random snippets to share from over the past few days.
Our 3 year old grandson isn’t sure yet about our feisty energetic pups, and enjoys them the most with a door between him and them which is totally fine. The other day while watching the pups wag their tails as they looked at him. He said their tails look like they are clapping. After he said that I took a closer look and when their tails bumped they did indeed look like they were clapping!
He and the rest of his family brought the pups a couple of tennis ball launchers because his aunt has one for her pup and he thought our girls should have them too. I am hopeful that the next time he visits, that from the height of his grandpa or daddy’s arms he will want to launch the tennis balls for the pups to chase and will feel comfortable playing with the pups because I know the pups want to play with him!
The pups always sleep with their stuffingless foxes and this morning when I opened their crate doors, I noticed Bonnie took hers went to Belle’s crate laid it in her crate and picked up Belle’s and ran to the pup cushions to play with it. A while later though I noticed that Belle and gotten hers back. I had to laugh though that Bonnie traded hers for Belle’s.
This morning while working on the computer I have been interrupted twice by the pups and their “requests”. It’s made me aware once again of the differences in our nearly identical pups. Bonnie comes up and true to her nature head bumps my arm when she wants to be loved on. Belle on the other hand true to her nature will come up and gently lick my hand as a request for some loving. Two totally different personalities, both equally loveable and precious!
Good Morning from Linus!
Love from Bonnie and Belle
Cuddling with Belle
Along Came Linus
Bonnie made three
Belle and her Greg, Please pet me.
Oh right there!
One happy pup
Belle staying close
Lucy Kitty Invitation Supervisor
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