Category Archives: Pets

I’M BORED!!!!!

I’m bored.

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I have an owie on my tummy.  It doesn’t really hurt but it’s starting to itch, my Margret says it’s because my fur is starting to grow back.  I hope it grows fast because my tummy is cold!

I don’t understand why I can’t do what I want to do!  I can’t roughhouse with my sisters, I can’t sleep upstairs with everyone else, and I can’t go out in the pup pen with my sisters. *Humph!*

My Margret says I can do all of that again as soon as my stitches, whatever they are, come out next week, whenever that is. I just know it’s not right now, and I want it to be!

I do get to see my Greg who comes home from work in the middle of the day to let me out of my crate and play with me. When he goes back to work after our playtime, I get to stay in the house by myself, well not really by myself because Linus kitty is with me.  My Margret and my Greg tell me I’m a good girl because when they come home from work at the end of the day I haven’t done anything I wasn’t supposed to. As if I would, if they only knew that I’m the one who keeps Linus under control… well,I would if he did anything.

 

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Napping

 

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I was a good girl!  They told me so.

 

My sisters and I did get to have our peanut butter Kongs last night and mine tasted really good, although I couldn’t get it to stay still. Then I watched my sisters and saw they were holding their Kong with their paws so I tried that and it went much better.

I discovered last night that if I bark when I’m in my crate my Margret and sisters will come down to see if I’m ok.  I like that!  At midnight I got to go get a drink and run out to the pup pen.  My Margret told me we weren’t going to make it a habit.  I tried it again this morning at 4:00am  but she didn’t come down until 5:00am I’m not sure what a habit is, maybe 5:00am is a habit?

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Is it morning? Can I get up yet?

I don’t mind my crate, I have a snuggly blanket, usually at least 2 stuffies and a chewie toy in my crate to keep me company.  I actually go in my crate to snuggle even when I don’t have to. That is when there’s room.

All in all I guess it’s going ok. I mean I am feeling better and my Margret says it won’t be much longer and all will go back to normal.  Now if I can just figure out what a normal is…

This is Bess, signing off for the Pups and Kitties.

*some of the photos were used in previous blog posts, but totally represent the feeling expressed in this blog. m.a.

Christmas Day and Polite Greeting

 

“We did it!”  After years, simply years, (well at least it felt like it) of practicing polite greeting we were able to come in and join the party!

There were so many people someone was always petting us, which was just fine with us!

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Bess, getting all kinds of attention Abby and Barb

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The pups sitting pretty for Aunt Marge. “We just know she’s going to give us a treat!”

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Belle hanging out with Jim

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Bonnie having some one on one time with Aunt Marge.

 

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Having fun with Nancy, Jim, Mike and Abby

The surprise of the day came when we heard a quiet meow and my Margret went out to the kitchen to find Mike talking to “I love living in the basement where it’s quiet” Lucy kitty.  Then a short time later Lucy was back in the kitchen talking to Jim.  To hear my Margret and my Greg talk about it that was awesome and huge even bigger than all of us joining the party and let me tell you that was pretty big in itself!

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Mike, the Lucy whisperer

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Jim also the Lucy whisperer.

We still have some practicing to do. We, especially Bess, what are you going to do she’s still pretty young, were a bit bouncy when we first met people but it didn’t last long.       Then there was that time that I really needed to have some quiet time, my Margret noticed and opened the door so I could go out in our pup pen.  People get pretty noisy sometimes, I didn’t know that before.                                       All in all though we had a really fun day.  That night my Margret said to my Greg, ” I bet they’ll  sleep good tonight!”  I wonder what gave her that idea?

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Bess and Linus

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Bonnie

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Belle

Oh well *yawn* I’ll figure it out later. Until next time, this is Belle signing off for the Pups and Kitties.

Bess’s First Thunder Storm

So…. last night we decided to see how Bess pup who is 6 months old would handle sleeping upstairs with her sisters and Greg and I uncrated.

The only areas the pups have access to overnight is the hallway and our. Even then Bess was pretty antsy and she just didn’t quite know what to do because you know there were lots of good smells to sniff and lots of exploring to do.

Then all of a sudden there was a flash of light and a few seconds later some fairly loud rumbling.  Bess immediately started barking  to let us know there was something going on.  Belle jumped up on the bed to nudge me off of the bed to go take care of whatever that was. Bonnie stood at the ready to see what we were going to do.

Our dog trainer Lora during one of Bess’s puppy classes told us to make thunderstorms a party so puppies can handle the storms better.  Remembering that, I thought to myself how do you have a party at 11:30 at night, well by turning it into a slumber party of course.  Calling the pups to come with me we headed downstairs, it had been several months since we had had a thunderstorm so all three dogs were stuck like glue to my side.  We had cuddle time during the worst of the storm, yes, it is possible to cuddle three golden retrievers weighing between 50- 60 some lbs each at the same time. When the storm started to move away I grabbed a quilt and settled down in our oversized recliner for the night.  Bonnie decided to share the chair with me, Bess was happily laying on the floor about a foot from me, and Belle was curled up on the couch also about a foot from me.   Linus and Lucy kitties weren’t bothered by the storm but they did curl up on the chair with me to give their support. Thanks Kitties!

This morning Bess woke me up by gently laying her head on my arm, saying “it’s morning, I need to go outside please.”  After checking things out I discovered that Bess did well being uncrated all night, there were no accidents and nothing was chewed up, so we’ll give it another try tonight, hopefully there won’t be any storms to add to the fun so we can sleep upstairs.

Belle Pup April Update

Belle became very anxious at the  CGC class again tonight so she and Greg ended up leaving early.  On the way home they stopped at a park and went for a long walk.  Greg said she did just fine and they had a good time.

We have decided that for Belle the journey to becoming a therapy dog is done.  For whatever reason she just gets too anxious.  We have tried several things to help her and while it makes it better it doesn’t take her anxiety completely away and we love her way too much to put her through that.

So Abbott’s Timber Creek Mae Belle is not going to be a mama, because of her hip dysplasia, and she isn’t going to become a therapy dog because of her anxieties but she is going to continue to be our Belle baby, the snuggler, the “wake Margret upper”,  the blanket stealer, the tennis ball loving, second in command  of our 4 footed family members, (Lucy kitty is still first.) precious, special smiley pup.

Belle Pup

Belle Pup

You’re Home!

The pups usually are in the doorway of the kitchen to greet me when I come home each day from work.  This past Friday after a very busy long week I saw Bonnie peeking through the window watching me walk up to the house.  When I went into the house she said  “Oh, you are home, Yea! You are home,(happy sigh) Okay, I’m going to go finish my supper now.” this was accompanied by a quickly wagging tail, a smiley face and leaning into the pat and cuddle from me.

Bess met me at the door too with full body very excited wiggles and licks, cue the peppy music. “You’re HOME! You’re HOME! You’re HOME! my life is complete! Ok gotta run and go eat NOW!” and she was off and running.

Before I made it up the 4 stairs from the backdoor into the kitchen Belle  appeared tail wagging, eager for her greeting but she had a tired look on her face  then she said, ” Boy, I’m glad you’re home! That puppy has been bouncing around all day, can’t you do something about her? It’s your turn, I’m taking a break!

Linus was lying upstairs on our bed, where he usually at this time, resting from his very busy day of being Linus and looks to me and says, “Oh, good you’re home” and goes back to sleep.

Lucy was  perched on the back of the chair which is her custom and told me all about her day and what she had to do to keep Linus in line. She accompanied by a forehead bump her way of saying I love you.

What a great way to be welcomed home!

Two Pups and a Kitty

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.

 

Steps In The Right Direction

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

Our Girls

 

Belle (on the left) stuck the sit even with sisterly distractions!

Belle (on the left) stuck the sit even with sisterly distractions!

 

Towel, what towel?

Towel, what towel?

Belle and Bess cuddling on a cold winter day.

Belle and Bess cuddling on a cold winter day.

Bess and Linus

Bess and Linus

February Pupdates

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

Bess checking out the snow

What is all of this stuff?

What is all of this stuff?

Bess and Linus

Bess and Linus

Belle and her fancy dancy they aren't letting me lick my incision collar

Belle and her fancy dancy they aren’t letting me lick my incision collar

Doing a good job keeping her eye on the ball

Doing a good job keeping her eye on the ball

Ha! I figured out how to play with my tennis ball!

Ha! I figured out how to play with my tennis ball!

figured out how to lay down comfortably

A peaceful Belle

Snuggle Bunch

Snuggle Bunch

Lucy doing her owl imitation

Lucy doing her owl imitation

Lucy and Linus Kitties

 

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 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.

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

Laundry Supervisor

Lucy never fails to make sure the laundry won’t fall off the table.

Lucy's favorite spot

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!

Let’s play!

Linus, Bonnie and Belle

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.

In his safe place upstairs.

 

Linus and Bess

Linus and Bess

 

Ha, you can't reach me! Notice Belle standing protectively beside Linus.

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.

Linus’s favorite place to lay.

 

Keeping watch.

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 Pup

Belle

Belle

For those of you who may read our Two Pups and a Kitty Facebook page, that don’t know me may feel that my post yesterday about Belle and being diagnosed with moderate  hip dysplasia might be considered cold. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.  The back story that new readers may not know, is that early on in our marriage and over the years Greg and I have prayed, talked and dreamed about having a kennel and raising Golden Retrievers.  In 2008 after the NIU campus shootings when I witnessed first hand the healing touch that therapy dogs brought to our hurting campus that dream morphed into also having our dogs become certified to be therapy dogs. Due to many factors the time wasn’t right for any of this until a little over 2 years ago when we brought Bonnie and Belle into our lives.

A funny thing happens sometimes to dreams, they evolve until sometimes the reality isn’t anything like the original dream.  While we do have three golden retrievers that we love to pieces,the dream of having a kennel has faded into maybe having a litter of puppies (in only the most responsible, breed strengthening way of course which was always our intent).  Those who follow our story, ( and I certainly thank you for doing so) know that  we are still working on Bonnie and Belle passing the Canine Good Citizen test. And seeing if either of them will qualify for therapy dog status is way down the line.

The next step towards having puppies was to have Bonnie and Belle be tested for hip dysplasia, which we did a few weeks ago.  We had discussed before hand that we certainly would not move forward in breeding if they had it. We knew that would be highly irresponsible  so when we received Belle’s report yesterday, it was in effect the end of that part of our dream for her at least.  It’s hard when you dream something for literally decades to shrug it off and say ok, there is a small amount of grieving and letting go that comes with the end of a dream.  That was my emotion while writing the facebook post about it last night.

The biggest feeling though when I read that report was concern for Belle. What the future holds for her medically, how will we best be able to help her as the years go on.  She already deals with allergies, and ear infections and now this.  Yes, trust me I know that these things are easy issues.  I know that so many other dogs are dealing with or have just lost their fight against cancer, are dealing with serious injuries and other very difficult health issues. My heart hurts for those dogs and their families. But for us, right now, today this is our issue with our Belle pup and for us it’s pretty big.

We will be talking with our vet to find out what to look for and how we can best help Belle deal with any pain and or other issues that will be a part of her future with hip dysplasia.  As always we will continue to pray and see what Lord has in store for us and our pups as we continue our Golden Adventure.