Adoption Wednesday

This is Ed, who thinks he's a lap dog. He's available for adoption at Buddy Dog in Sudbury, MA.

http://www.buddydoghs.com/

He's about 2 years old, loves people and is wondering why we're taking his picture instead of petting him.
Ed would be better in an adult home or with older children, as he could knock over young children in his excitement to play. He does like to play with some dogs, so if you have a dog at home, bring him or her when you come to visit. A home without cats is recommended. With this cute face, why would you need anyone else?

15 minutes alone

This is when we knew we had a problem. Maggie has always been a chew-bot, obsessed with destroying toys & blankets. (Note the missing fringe on the rug - she took half of it off when I fell asleep on the couch one night.) Duke took it to a whole new level, as he dragged the blanket and leash across the house to destroy them in the living room. The traveling mystery dog destruction show had begun!

I've never seen a dog than can hack through a 6' nylon leash so fast. The first time we gave the dogs kongs with peanut butter I heard a weird noise after about 5 minutes. Duke was ripping chunks off the black "Extreme Kong" & spitting them out. Maggie had her kong for a year without a problem, so we went up a larger size to see if that would help. They both were ruined in about 10 minutes. I don't understand how a little whippet mix can destroy toys in minutes that supposedly keep pitbulls entertained for an hour!
 
We don't really know what breed Maggie & Duke are as they're street dogs from Puerto Rico, aka Satos. A friend's daughter calls them the mystery dogs. Maggie is a year older, so they're not litter mates, though they certainly look & act like it. Right now they're curled up together on one dog bed even though there are two in here. The blue bed from this pic is long gone.

Do I know you?

We took the dogs to Petco(where the pets go, as Mr.Man says every.freaking.time) the other night to pick up dog & cat food. Since they were street dogs, they weren't socialized as puppies, so they tend to be very shy. When we first went there Maggie would have her tail tucked between her legs & Duke would shake so much it looked like he was going to levitate. They've slowly been getting better, and this visit was the best yet.

They were greeted by an out of control wiener dog,  so Maggie thought it was playtime! She pranced through the store with her tail up, sat to look at puppies playing, gave high fives for treats & licked Duke's face when he was nervous. Duke barely shook, and even ate 3 treats! He's a chunk-a-punk at home, but will not eat anything if he's feeling fearful.

When we were checking out the cashier asked if she knew us. I said we were in all the time, but she didn't think that was it. Then she said "Wait, didn't you have a really nervous dog?"

I said, "Yes, that's us" and Mr.Man laughed.
The cashier came out from behind the counter and said "That kind of looks like the dog I remember, but she used to be so scared!" Maggie walked right up to her, took a treat & then dropped it on the floor as she is a picky picky princess. The cashier then broke out the good liver treats, which Maggie ate.  

Duke was sitting at the end of his leash trying to get away from cashier lady, so she gave me a treat for him. He ate it when she went behind the counter, on top of the treats from home that he had earlier. He was pretty much making the face in this picture.

Duke is the dog who sat and shook the first day of obedience class, would barely eat turkey meatballs & stopped chewing chicken if the trainer came within 10 feet. Mr.Man would cook chicken breast as a training treat as the treats they love at home could not overcome the fear of a new place. It's a lot cheaper per pound to cook chicken than to buy the processed treats, which helps us feel a little less silly about it.

Before Duke

Before Duke, Maggie just had the 2 tiger boys. Ozzy & Dude love to hang out with the dogs. Ozzy will headbutt the dogs in the face and flop over onto his back next to them. Dude will whack the dogs' legs and run around the house with his tail flapping while they chase him. He'll jump onto the couch or bed and whine when he's tired of playing, but he'll still be purring. He's definitely a puppycat.

Technically, Maggie also had Serena & Cocoa, but they just tolerate the dogs. Duke wanted to sit next to Serena on the couch but realized that wasn't the best idea. Every now and then she'll headbutt one of the dogs in the legs, look up, "meep" really loudly and then bunny hop away like a giant squeeky toy. She gets extremely upset when they chase her, not realizing that she started it.

Cocoa barely tolerates the tiger boys, much less the dogs or Serena. We adopted her with Ozzy when they were 6; the shelter said they had to go together as they were bonded since kittenhood. Once they got here she went one way and Ozzy went the other, they're rarely in the same room.

Cocoa loves Mr.Man & will follow him around the house when he gets home & screech loudly until he picks her up. It's tough to get a picture of her big blue eyes because she squints and starts kneading the closest item when she gets any attention. All of the cats love Mr.Man, obviously they didn't get the memo that he's a big scary guy, at least according to Maggie.

Cocoa loves people. She and Ozzy are the welcoming committee, the 2 of them come running to see whoever is at the door. The vet, the cable guy, they don't care who, people are here to see the meezy cats!

We don't need no stinking collars!

This picture was taken the second to last time the dogs ever wore collars in the house. Maggie's third Lupine collar is in the foreground. They replaced 2 collars and I just didn't feel right about asking for a replacement again. Duke chewed the martingale loop off, probably after they destroyed the brand new rope toy. I think we were outside (left them unsupervised) for 20 minutes tops.

Note Duke's collection of towels, bones and toys that he dragged out of their crates. Yes, this would not have happened if they were in their crates, we've lost count of how many times we've said that. I filled out a separation anxiety checklist and they both scored 100%.

Maggie & her long distance boyfriend

This is Maggie with her boyfriend Stout. He lives in Vermont with her Uncle D, so she only gets to see him a few times a year. This was taken before we had Duke, who likes Stout, but gets a little intimidated because he is more than twice their size at 110 lbs. This was taken when Maggie was about 10 lbs underweight due to Leptospirosis, which made her more anorexic than usual.

Maggie is so much happier now that she has Duke with her every day.

Demolition Dog Racing

Demolition dog racing on the hill. 

Duke barks at Maggie because he can't catch up. Sometimes she chases him for a minute so she can body slam him across the yard. He's learned to cut across and shoulder check her, but she's still faster. 

I started using the lunge line to work on Maggie's recall, but now we use them all the time to walk in the back field & on the hill. 2 dogs, 2 twenty foot leashes, what could go horribly wrong? (Insert huge list here.)

We stick with standard 6' leashes for the rest of the time & never use retractables; well, Duke's red leash was an old retractable web leash that I ripped apart and sewed a loop on. Maggie's blue leash is almost 30 years old & was a horse lunge line; I cut the chain off and sewed a clip on. The sewing machine has more than paid for itself.

Maggie & Duke, Halloween 2009

This was Duke's first night home.
Maggie was so excited to finally have a little brother to boss around.
She's the punk in the black collar; we call it the "stunt collar" as it's the only one they didn't destroy.