Unfortunately Quest (Audrey's sister) was diagnosed with Parvo on Tuesday. Currently she is stable in the hospital on IV fluids.
Audrey tested negative this morning. Thank God.
I'll keep you updated.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
A Video!
Here is a video from one of the first few days that Audrey was home. She is about 10 1/2 weeks old.
Catastrophes!
Somehow my dogs (and me) seem to attract all kinds of catastrophes wherever we go.
Yesterday was time for Audrey's final puppy shots. We got to the Vet and everything was fine. She was all wiggly to meet everyone and sniff them and their dogs/cats. She was a champ getting her shots and everything was great except when I went to lift her off the table I mistakenly grabbed her at the injection site and she yelped. Thankfully we recovered and left on a high note (she met a cat and that got her all wiggly again).
After the Vet we went to PetSmart to buy her some treats and a new BIG toy (since April de-squeaked her giant Stingray). We were in the parking lot talking to one of my groomer friends when I saw out of the corner of my eye a truck with a big tail wagging out of the back. I thought nothing of it and we said bye to my friend and kept walking. Suddenly out of nowhere a GIGANTIC Great Pyrenees mix (I know the odds are slim that he was one, but that's what he looked like) comes RUNNING, GROWLING, AND LUNGING AT AUDREY.
I go into Alpha protection mode and I sort of crouched between the dog and Audrey and yelled "NO NO NO STOP IT GO AWAY." Then I grabbed the big dog by the scruff/collar and told him again "NO NO NO". By this point the owner was on his way over (nonchalantly of course) saying "Oh don't worry, he won't hurt her." To which I yelled "HE'S RUNNING, GROWLING, AND LUNGING AT MY DOG. GET HIM AWAY FROM HER."
Once he was contained, Audrey literally shook herself off and wiggled towards the door as though nothing had happened (Thank God). Once inside she wiggled and said Hello to a few people, played with a dachshund puppy (who she probably thought was a way friendlier Mackenzie), and sniffed every inch of the floor. I was grabbing a few things for her and didn't think I needed a cart or basket so I had everything in my arms. Right at the front of the store are the MilkBone Gravy Biscuits which everyone loves (especially Mackenzie because to her they are ginormous) so I went to grab a box.
You can probably tell where this is going... as I reached for the box, I became aware that I probably had too many things in my arms to begin with, and the box fell. Yes, it fell, right on top of my little Audrey. She proceeded to yell and scream at the top of her lungs and try to run away, probably more so from the shock, than it actually hurting her. I spilled everything from my arms, got on the floor with her and fed her cookies. We recovered again after a short time but the noise of the biscuits being shaken in the box still worries her, but she'll get over it once she realizes what the box actually contains.
That was our last catastrophe of yesterday, but as you can tell we live a life full of adventure.
Today Dad had his left knee operated on (in March of '08 he had the right knee done) so we're playing nurse. Hopefully she doesn't rip off his bandages, chew on his ice pack, or pounce on his leg until he's feeling better. :)
Yesterday was time for Audrey's final puppy shots. We got to the Vet and everything was fine. She was all wiggly to meet everyone and sniff them and their dogs/cats. She was a champ getting her shots and everything was great except when I went to lift her off the table I mistakenly grabbed her at the injection site and she yelped. Thankfully we recovered and left on a high note (she met a cat and that got her all wiggly again).
After the Vet we went to PetSmart to buy her some treats and a new BIG toy (since April de-squeaked her giant Stingray). We were in the parking lot talking to one of my groomer friends when I saw out of the corner of my eye a truck with a big tail wagging out of the back. I thought nothing of it and we said bye to my friend and kept walking. Suddenly out of nowhere a GIGANTIC Great Pyrenees mix (I know the odds are slim that he was one, but that's what he looked like) comes RUNNING, GROWLING, AND LUNGING AT AUDREY.
I go into Alpha protection mode and I sort of crouched between the dog and Audrey and yelled "NO NO NO STOP IT GO AWAY." Then I grabbed the big dog by the scruff/collar and told him again "NO NO NO". By this point the owner was on his way over (nonchalantly of course) saying "Oh don't worry, he won't hurt her." To which I yelled "HE'S RUNNING, GROWLING, AND LUNGING AT MY DOG. GET HIM AWAY FROM HER."
Once he was contained, Audrey literally shook herself off and wiggled towards the door as though nothing had happened (Thank God). Once inside she wiggled and said Hello to a few people, played with a dachshund puppy (who she probably thought was a way friendlier Mackenzie), and sniffed every inch of the floor. I was grabbing a few things for her and didn't think I needed a cart or basket so I had everything in my arms. Right at the front of the store are the MilkBone Gravy Biscuits which everyone loves (especially Mackenzie because to her they are ginormous) so I went to grab a box.
You can probably tell where this is going... as I reached for the box, I became aware that I probably had too many things in my arms to begin with, and the box fell. Yes, it fell, right on top of my little Audrey. She proceeded to yell and scream at the top of her lungs and try to run away, probably more so from the shock, than it actually hurting her. I spilled everything from my arms, got on the floor with her and fed her cookies. We recovered again after a short time but the noise of the biscuits being shaken in the box still worries her, but she'll get over it once she realizes what the box actually contains.
That was our last catastrophe of yesterday, but as you can tell we live a life full of adventure.
Today Dad had his left knee operated on (in March of '08 he had the right knee done) so we're playing nurse. Hopefully she doesn't rip off his bandages, chew on his ice pack, or pounce on his leg until he's feeling better. :)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Being a puppy is tiring!
Sorry for the lack of pupdates. My internet has been spotty.
Yesterday was Audrey's first official grooming! I took her and Spencer out to Paws and Claws (our breeder owns and operates a boarding kennel) to get them groomed and let them play with some of their dogs.
Spencer, who I am clearly mistaken about, was a perfect gentleman with everyone. Usually I say that he is iffy around other dogs because of his reputation for getting picked on/attacked at the dog park. Even Wicket the Borzoi (who honestly, might be the only dog in the world I've ever been scared of at first sight because she's so huge and breathtaking) didn't phase him. He hung out/ran around with a Flat Coated Retriever, a Springer Spaniel, a Silky Terrier (more on her later), a Corgi, a Field Spaniel, and the Borzoi and Audrey.
Audrey, on the other hand, has this effect on other dogs. They all want to eat her. Everyone was fine at first but then the Silky decided Audrey would be a nice snack and was determined to eat her face. Then the Big Dogs decided to all sniff Audrey at the same time so she was flopped on her back, kicking her legs in the air and simultaneously showing her teeth just in case. Once we got the Silky put in another kennel run, we brought out Quest (the puppy that our breeder chose to keep from Audrey's litter). So Quest comes barreling out and also decides that Audrey needs to be eaten. After a few loud and toothy scraps we decide that maybe it's not a good idea to have them play together. Later though Audrey did get to play with a crazy, gorgeous 1yo Pomeranian who Spence even played with.
In addition to the socializing with other dogs, Audrey also heard a lawnmower, walked on a wooden slatted thingy, said HI to the cat, and got groomed. It was her 2nd bath, but her first time getting her nails clipped, her paw hair was trimmed, and her head, neck, and ears got shaved.
As far as people go Audrey's met probably close to her 100 people thus far. I had a small get together last week, she met my Aunt today, and I'm having a party tomorrow. She gets a car ride nearly every evening too. She's also gone to PetSmart once a week since I got her so I think we're doing pretty well.
Yesterday was Audrey's first official grooming! I took her and Spencer out to Paws and Claws (our breeder owns and operates a boarding kennel) to get them groomed and let them play with some of their dogs.
Spencer, who I am clearly mistaken about, was a perfect gentleman with everyone. Usually I say that he is iffy around other dogs because of his reputation for getting picked on/attacked at the dog park. Even Wicket the Borzoi (who honestly, might be the only dog in the world I've ever been scared of at first sight because she's so huge and breathtaking) didn't phase him. He hung out/ran around with a Flat Coated Retriever, a Springer Spaniel, a Silky Terrier (more on her later), a Corgi, a Field Spaniel, and the Borzoi and Audrey.
Audrey, on the other hand, has this effect on other dogs. They all want to eat her. Everyone was fine at first but then the Silky decided Audrey would be a nice snack and was determined to eat her face. Then the Big Dogs decided to all sniff Audrey at the same time so she was flopped on her back, kicking her legs in the air and simultaneously showing her teeth just in case. Once we got the Silky put in another kennel run, we brought out Quest (the puppy that our breeder chose to keep from Audrey's litter). So Quest comes barreling out and also decides that Audrey needs to be eaten. After a few loud and toothy scraps we decide that maybe it's not a good idea to have them play together. Later though Audrey did get to play with a crazy, gorgeous 1yo Pomeranian who Spence even played with.
In addition to the socializing with other dogs, Audrey also heard a lawnmower, walked on a wooden slatted thingy, said HI to the cat, and got groomed. It was her 2nd bath, but her first time getting her nails clipped, her paw hair was trimmed, and her head, neck, and ears got shaved.
As far as people go Audrey's met probably close to her 100 people thus far. I had a small get together last week, she met my Aunt today, and I'm having a party tomorrow. She gets a car ride nearly every evening too. She's also gone to PetSmart once a week since I got her so I think we're doing pretty well.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Bath Day + Pupdate
I don't bathe my dogs very often. In fact, I bathe my dogs so infrequently that every time I do bathe them, I do it only because I can't remember the last time I did it. So needless to say, when Bath Day comes around, it's kind of a big deal.
Our Bath Day began because of Audrey. Now, as you may have realized by now, Audrey is, for lack of a better word, a BAD puppy. When she is outside her main objectives are to eat/grab as many items as physically possible. Grass, twigs, plants, rocks, ants, flowers, leaves, unidentified objects, and so on. What she does is she'll get one of the aforementioned objects and race to the flower bed that she has claimed as her own personal sandbox. Once there she will dig, chew, and eat as many items as possible. If she can tell that you are on to her she will start racing around the yard with the object in her mouth, wait until you can almost catch her, and then take off again. She was having a wonderful time at her salad bar and sandbox when I realized just how dirty she had gotten.
Her bath was fairly uneventful. She did manage to climb out of the utility sink twice but was unsuccessful in jumping off of the washing machine. She is probably going to be too big for the utility sink by her next bath anyway, so we won't have to worry about that. After her bath I thought she should meet Mr. Blow Dryer. I've never met a dog who actually likes the blow dryer but after a few minutes of screaming and trying to simultaneously rip my arm off and run away, she finally settled down a little bit and let me finish. After that she was so tired that she slept soundly in her crate for the rest of the afternoon...
Obviously I'm lying. She slept for maybe an hour and then went straight to the water bowl to ruin her lovely blow dried ears and then ran outside after Mom had watered the grass to play in the mud.
Speaking of being bad, we have a theory about our precious little Audrey. She's got these gorgeous golden/yellow eyes. When they are fully golden she behaves like an absolute angel. When her pupils get big and her eyes look more black, that's when you know she's going to be bad.
Now although her registered name is Argyle's Velveteen Rabbit, we also have her "official" name that we call her. We call her Audrey Bella MalaMala:
Audrey - after the amazing Audrey Hepburn
Bella - after the main character in the Twilight Saga
MalaMala - Mala means "bad" in Spanish and clearly she's bad x2
So whenever she's got the black eyes she is known as MalaMala. :) She's got several other nicknames as well including variations of Audrey such as Audrina/Audrita. Apparently Field Spaniels do this little dance move when you call them to you, they will come and then suddenly their little butts curve around and reach you at the same time as the front half of their body. I was told that this is called the "comma" for obvious reasons, but we also call her Chueca (crooked in Spanish) or Cashew.
Tonight I had Dad and Matt deliver her to me at work at 5:45 PM so I could have a few minutes to work with her. She met some kids and did quite well with them except when all four of them wanted to pet her at once. She sniffed a child in a wheelchair, and met several new people. She met a gigantic chihuahua x who she was quite smitten with (she would play bow and then smack him in the face with her huge paws), and a crazy chocolate lab. I told the lab people that she is often mistaken for a lab and they thought that was funny, but even I have to admit she is the exact same color as a chocolate lab.
We worked a little bit on loose leash walking/gaiting. She did a little bit of free stacking, and she sat politely for everyone who asked her to sit. Overall, the only issues she had were when the group of kids were trying to pet her and she got a little nervous, but I know she needed to poop too. So that might have been why she was antsy.
Oh and as per the usual everyone and their mother (literally) was quite confident that she is a Cocker Spaniel.
Our Bath Day began because of Audrey. Now, as you may have realized by now, Audrey is, for lack of a better word, a BAD puppy. When she is outside her main objectives are to eat/grab as many items as physically possible. Grass, twigs, plants, rocks, ants, flowers, leaves, unidentified objects, and so on. What she does is she'll get one of the aforementioned objects and race to the flower bed that she has claimed as her own personal sandbox. Once there she will dig, chew, and eat as many items as possible. If she can tell that you are on to her she will start racing around the yard with the object in her mouth, wait until you can almost catch her, and then take off again. She was having a wonderful time at her salad bar and sandbox when I realized just how dirty she had gotten.
Her bath was fairly uneventful. She did manage to climb out of the utility sink twice but was unsuccessful in jumping off of the washing machine. She is probably going to be too big for the utility sink by her next bath anyway, so we won't have to worry about that. After her bath I thought she should meet Mr. Blow Dryer. I've never met a dog who actually likes the blow dryer but after a few minutes of screaming and trying to simultaneously rip my arm off and run away, she finally settled down a little bit and let me finish. After that she was so tired that she slept soundly in her crate for the rest of the afternoon...
Obviously I'm lying. She slept for maybe an hour and then went straight to the water bowl to ruin her lovely blow dried ears and then ran outside after Mom had watered the grass to play in the mud.
Speaking of being bad, we have a theory about our precious little Audrey. She's got these gorgeous golden/yellow eyes. When they are fully golden she behaves like an absolute angel. When her pupils get big and her eyes look more black, that's when you know she's going to be bad.
Now although her registered name is Argyle's Velveteen Rabbit, we also have her "official" name that we call her. We call her Audrey Bella MalaMala:
Audrey - after the amazing Audrey Hepburn
Bella - after the main character in the Twilight Saga
MalaMala - Mala means "bad" in Spanish and clearly she's bad x2
So whenever she's got the black eyes she is known as MalaMala. :) She's got several other nicknames as well including variations of Audrey such as Audrina/Audrita. Apparently Field Spaniels do this little dance move when you call them to you, they will come and then suddenly their little butts curve around and reach you at the same time as the front half of their body. I was told that this is called the "comma" for obvious reasons, but we also call her Chueca (crooked in Spanish) or Cashew.
Tonight I had Dad and Matt deliver her to me at work at 5:45 PM so I could have a few minutes to work with her. She met some kids and did quite well with them except when all four of them wanted to pet her at once. She sniffed a child in a wheelchair, and met several new people. She met a gigantic chihuahua x who she was quite smitten with (she would play bow and then smack him in the face with her huge paws), and a crazy chocolate lab. I told the lab people that she is often mistaken for a lab and they thought that was funny, but even I have to admit she is the exact same color as a chocolate lab.
We worked a little bit on loose leash walking/gaiting. She did a little bit of free stacking, and she sat politely for everyone who asked her to sit. Overall, the only issues she had were when the group of kids were trying to pet her and she got a little nervous, but I know she needed to poop too. So that might have been why she was antsy.
Oh and as per the usual everyone and their mother (literally) was quite confident that she is a Cocker Spaniel.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Weekly Socialization Pupdate!
Yesterday Audrey (and Dad and I) went to JCPenney's. Well technically Audrey and I just went to the parking lot of JCPenney's while Dad shopped inside. We walked around the parking lot and encountered several new and interesting things such as:
-a storm drain
-landscaping wood chips (which she was convinced was just lots and lots of FOOD)
-bushes/palm trees
-gravel
-cars passing by very closely (and probably wondering what we were doing)
And then we went back to the car and I opened up the back of the TrailBlazer and we trained a little bit in the cargo area. After all of the other things she experienced, she decided that the scariest part of her day was the cover flap thingy in the back of dad's car (its hard to describe exactly what it is, but basically if you put groceries or something in the cargo area you could then pull this cover to conceal the packages). She bumped it with her nose accidentally and it made a funny sound and then to show her nothing was dangerous, I pulled it out and again it made a loud noise and she tried to leap out of the car. So we'll have to work on that again soon.
Then we went to PetSmart where she saw and experienced even more things such as:
-the automatic sliding doors in the front which she was unsure about at first, but then once they didn't eat her, she waltzed right in like a champ
-the Banfield sign was apparently quite fragrant (and thankfully didn't fall on her)
-a black lab/chow was OBSESSED with her (staring, whining and lunging at her) the entire time we were there so needless to say I didn't allow her to say HI to him
-she peed (what dog doesn't pee in PetSmart?) and so I cleaned it up and when I threw it away the sound of the trashcan closing scared her but she recovered and ate some food near the trashcan
She also allowed one of the cashiers and one of the groomers to pet her and give her some food (and she sat when they asked her to!) Also a little girl (finally) pet her while she was busy sniffing Dad's shopping cart. Overall it was a pretty eventful day, I just wish there were more dogs and people at PetSmart. I might take her on Saturdays since the weekends are always busier.
Even though yesterday was quite tiring for her, I think, last night and today she's been quite the little hellion anyway. :)
-a storm drain
-landscaping wood chips (which she was convinced was just lots and lots of FOOD)
-bushes/palm trees
-gravel
-cars passing by very closely (and probably wondering what we were doing)
And then we went back to the car and I opened up the back of the TrailBlazer and we trained a little bit in the cargo area. After all of the other things she experienced, she decided that the scariest part of her day was the cover flap thingy in the back of dad's car (its hard to describe exactly what it is, but basically if you put groceries or something in the cargo area you could then pull this cover to conceal the packages). She bumped it with her nose accidentally and it made a funny sound and then to show her nothing was dangerous, I pulled it out and again it made a loud noise and she tried to leap out of the car. So we'll have to work on that again soon.
Then we went to PetSmart where she saw and experienced even more things such as:
-the automatic sliding doors in the front which she was unsure about at first, but then once they didn't eat her, she waltzed right in like a champ
-the Banfield sign was apparently quite fragrant (and thankfully didn't fall on her)
-a black lab/chow was OBSESSED with her (staring, whining and lunging at her) the entire time we were there so needless to say I didn't allow her to say HI to him
-she peed (what dog doesn't pee in PetSmart?) and so I cleaned it up and when I threw it away the sound of the trashcan closing scared her but she recovered and ate some food near the trashcan
She also allowed one of the cashiers and one of the groomers to pet her and give her some food (and she sat when they asked her to!) Also a little girl (finally) pet her while she was busy sniffing Dad's shopping cart. Overall it was a pretty eventful day, I just wish there were more dogs and people at PetSmart. I might take her on Saturdays since the weekends are always busier.
Even though yesterday was quite tiring for her, I think, last night and today she's been quite the little hellion anyway. :)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Goals for 2009
Borrowing the idea from Kim over at OTCH Rah I decided to post about my dog goals for 2009.
Mackenzie:
Finish her Rally Novice (RN) title with at least one placement.
Start/(Finish?) her Rally Advanced (RA) title
Get a Companion Dog title (CD)
Find/Take a Canine Good Citizen test (CGC)
Pursue a new dog sport (tracking, earthdog, musical freestyle, etc.)
Audrey:
Debut her in July at the Field Spaniel National Specialty in Wisconsin
Get her in the ring as much as possible
Get as many CH points as possible
Start/Finish her Rally Novice title
Get her CGC
Start her Companion Dog title
Me:
Socialize and train Audrey for Conformation AND Obedience/Rally
Train/polish Mackenzie to finish her RN and hopefully earn legs towards her CD
Figure out how to attend as many shows as possible to achieve these goals
Some lofty goals, I know. Lofty in that we live in the Valley and everything takes 10x longer for me than anyone else. The last show we went to was in August, and the next show we're going to is in February. At this rate it could take two years for Mackenzie to get her CD. Either way, we've got the goals in mind. And I do believe that we've got a solid chance at achieving a good number of them. If I lived in a city where shows were close by I would have a much longer list by now. Plus all four of my dogs would be able to pursue all the sports they wanted to. We would be taking classes nearly every night I bet. Obedience/Rally, Disc, Musical Freestyle, Tracking, EarthDog, the list would be endless. Unfortunately, I love the Valley.
So instead of whisking myself off to Austin or San Antonio, I would much rather stay right here and if I'm lucky, I can slowly make an impact on the Valley's dog-owning public.
Mackenzie:
Finish her Rally Novice (RN) title with at least one placement.
Start/(Finish?) her Rally Advanced (RA) title
Get a Companion Dog title (CD)
Find/Take a Canine Good Citizen test (CGC)
Pursue a new dog sport (tracking, earthdog, musical freestyle, etc.)
Audrey:
Debut her in July at the Field Spaniel National Specialty in Wisconsin
Get her in the ring as much as possible
Get as many CH points as possible
Start/Finish her Rally Novice title
Get her CGC
Start her Companion Dog title
Me:
Socialize and train Audrey for Conformation AND Obedience/Rally
Train/polish Mackenzie to finish her RN and hopefully earn legs towards her CD
Figure out how to attend as many shows as possible to achieve these goals
Some lofty goals, I know. Lofty in that we live in the Valley and everything takes 10x longer for me than anyone else. The last show we went to was in August, and the next show we're going to is in February. At this rate it could take two years for Mackenzie to get her CD. Either way, we've got the goals in mind. And I do believe that we've got a solid chance at achieving a good number of them. If I lived in a city where shows were close by I would have a much longer list by now. Plus all four of my dogs would be able to pursue all the sports they wanted to. We would be taking classes nearly every night I bet. Obedience/Rally, Disc, Musical Freestyle, Tracking, EarthDog, the list would be endless. Unfortunately, I love the Valley.
So instead of whisking myself off to Austin or San Antonio, I would much rather stay right here and if I'm lucky, I can slowly make an impact on the Valley's dog-owning public.
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