Tag 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.

Bess and Her “Lady” Surgery

Bess went in this past Monday to have her “lady” surgery.  Surgery went well and she did just fine.  When I called the next afternoon to see what time I could pick her up  they said she was doing a lot of vomiting, more than usual.  The vet tech said that while she could technically come home since the medicine for nausea seemed to be helping, it would really be better for her to stay so she could be monitored for one more night.  So that’s what we did.   I called the next morning and was told that she had eaten both supper and breakfast and that it had stayed down so we could bring our kinda of bouncy pup home.

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Heading Home

Greg, who was at work, met us at home to take Bess in the house.  Our girl weighs 65 lbs and although she is learning to listen while on leash it still can be a challenge to get her attention when she is faced with an exciting world outside and wants to go in another direction than the one she needs to go in.  For her safety she needed someone with a bit, ok a lot more muscle than I have.

Once she was settled we let Bonnie and Belle in to welcome her home.

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Belle was a little disgruntled until she realized that under all the hospital smells was her little pesky sister.  Of course after the sniff fest was over all three pups decided that some rough housing was in order.  Since that’s #1 on Bess’s “do not do” list I put Bonnie and Belle out in the pup pen for awhile.  Bess in the meantime followed me around when I was up doing things she was antsy when I was sitting and quiet she would lay down and watch me.

 

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Knowing that she needed sleep I took a cup of coffee and a book and curled up quietly in the living room.  She first took a nap across the room then came over and curled up next to me, her toys never too far away from her.

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Greg came home  a little while later and our evening of guessing what Bess needed, and reassuring Bonnie and Belle began.

After she at her supper Bess’s tummy was upset again although she only threw up once much later the evening.   She was anxious, and antsy with Greg and I taking turns taking her out to potty.  Bess finally crashed into a much needed sleep on the kitchen floor.  After she woke up it was time for another trip outside then I put her in her crate with some toys for the night.   I slept on the couch to be close by in case she needed anything but she slept through the night.

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Why can’t I go out and dig up that scrumptious thing I smell? Why?

We’ve already been out this morning and She and I have had a discussion on why she still has to stay very quiet today.  She clearly doesn’t agree with me.

Bess is to stay very quiet for the next two days. Then for four more days she can have some more activity but is to continue to be crated when we aren’t with her and no rough housing at all.   The second week of her two week stint of recovery  she can have more activity and can go back to normal activity once her stitches are out.

If she continues to leave her incision alone she won’t have to wear the “cone of royalty” we have just in case.   I don’t like the name cone of shame and since it’s also known as an Elizabethan collar  in our home it’s been renamed the cone of royalty.  Thank you to my sister in law Barb and niece Abby for the research behind that name change.  🙂

We appreciate the thoughts, encouragement and prayers for Bess especially earlier in the week when she wasn’t able to come home as planned.    We would appreciated your prayers and thoughts as our bouncy girl continues to recover.

I tend to update our Three Pups and a Couple of Kitties Facebook page more frequently. If you haven’t done so I invite you to like our page for the most updated news.

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.

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

The Pups Version of Musical Crates

But this is my crate!

But this is my crate!

Sleep Over

Sleep Over

Bonnie and Belle haven’t been crated in months.  They sleep upstairs with us in our bedroom.  Bess has two crates is crated when we are gone and at night. When we first brought Bess home she was in a crate in our bedroom at night to be close to us.  This became a problem when she had difficulty getting down the stairs and across the house to the pup pen during our middle of the night potty breaks. So we had her sleep at night in her daytime crate to make the distance to the pup pen shorter for her. Bess is basically housebroken now, (let the balloons and streamers fall from the ceiling in celebration!) and in all my humanness I decided that she must be lonely downstairs by herself, so the past couple of nights we had her sleep back upstairs in the crate with us.   This morning after a  1 am potty break on our way back upstairs her firmly planted paws told me in no uncertain terms that she prefers to sleep downstairs thank you very much!  Ok, no problem I said and put her in her downstairs crate.

Fast forward to two happenings this morning.  When Bess came in from the pup pen she went right into her crate, sat down looked at me and yawned clearly not ready to start her day.   Then I heard laughter from Greg, who was still upstairs, Bonnie and Belle were curled up together in the crate in our bedroom.

I don’t understand their attachment to the crates but I am glad that the pups feel comfortable in the crates even when they don’t need them.

Such is life with our pups!

Tiaras Plus Treats Equal…Epic Failure!

Tiaras plus treats equal…. epic failure. Belle clearly hates hers then she took Bonnie’s off and tried to eat it. Bess kept hers on just long enough to snap the picture. So even though we can’t get the cute pics with props from our crew to yours we wish you a happy and blessed 2015. Thanks for reading our posts we hope they make you smile. Oh and for those of you who can take the cute pictures with props. More power to you, you are my heros!

Treats and Tiaras

Treats and Tiaras

Belle clearly hates it.

"Bonnie, let me help you get that thing off!"

“Bonnie, let me help you get that thing off!”

"Anything for a treat, but hurry up I don't like this!"

“Anything for a treat, but hurry up I don’t like this!”

“Good it’s off!”

 

Pupdates

 Belle

Belle

Bess and Belle

Bess and Belle

Bess

Bess

Bonnie

Bonnie

Sleep over in Bess's crate

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!

Morning Routines

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.