Dear Journal...

My New Dog Blog

I made a new blog specifically for dog stuff. :D

http://candidcanines.tumblr.com/

2 Hounds Design

I put in an order for two collars from 2 Hounds Design today. Sammy is getting the Lavender Pinwheel collar, and Motley is getting the Purple Blocks collar. Sammy’s collar is handmade of silk brocade, and Motley’s is handmade of 100% silk from England. Honestly, I can’t believe I just spent almost $100 on two collars!!! Now my girls can go to dog events in style!

The Girls are Learning to Share

So far Sammy and Motley get a long great. There have been a couple of altercations between them regarding high value treats (like bones and bully sticks) and special toys (particularly the squeaky egg toys). Although I’ve been keeping a close eye on them, these minor altercations seem to happen in the corner of my eye, making it difficult to tell who started it. Sammy does great with other dogs and isn’t possessive of toys and treats. She’ll even share a food dish or water bowl without any problems, as well as sharing her bed, and the backseat of the Jeep (her favorite place). 

The first two incidents seemed to be started by Motley. The first one was in the computer room where the girls each had a bone. Motley growled and snapped briefly at Sammy, and did it again later when she was in her crate and Sammy walked by. I think Sammy is provoking the behavior because I know she is a pig when it comes to treats. I’m pretty sure Sam is eye-balling Motley’s treats, making Motley react in a way to say, “This one is mine!” The third altercation actually happened just a couple of minutes ago, which is why I decided to blog about it. Again, it happened in the corner of my eye when least expected. Sammy put her ears down as soon as I looked in their direction, which tells me she’s probably guilty. She usually does that when she knows she did something wrong!

This time it was over a squeaky egg toy, Sam’s favorite toys. Motley is one of those pups who likes to tear the squeakers out of toys, so maybe Sam wants to save her toys. Sammy loves to run around, squeaking those egg toys in her mouth. To try to figure out who is starting what, I feed them side by side, give them treats side by side, and even love them both with their heads in my lap. None of this has caused any problems, so I can’t figure out who is getting upset, and why.

Is Sammy being jealous and trying to take all the toys and treats? Or is Motley used to fighting for these things, after coming from a home with two older dogs? Perhaps being in heat can change Motley’s mood, too? Whatever the reason, they get a long great and the issues are only minor. It’s only been five days that they’ve been living together, so I’m sure once Motley is done settling in and Sammy adjusts to her new sister, they will be fine. :)

New Puppy

So last Friday my co-workers showed me an ad someone had put on the bulletin board at work. It was a “free to good home” ad for a nine month old Australian Shepherd. I didn’t think I would adopt another dog, but I wondered what the puppy looked like and why they were trying to find it a new home. I took the ad down and went out to my car to make a phone call. A woman answered. We talked for a little bit about the dog. A nine month old female who was supposed to be her husband’s dog, but he was in Afghanistan and she seemed to be overwhelmed with the responsibility of raising the puppy, as well as her own children and two older dogs. 

The woman sent me a few pictures and told me a little more about the dog after our phone conversation. She said she would bring the puppy in to work on Saturday if I wanted to meet her. I was okay with that, but I told her I needed to talk it over with my fiance before making a decision whether to adopt or not. Surprisingly enough, Nate agreed. There was a catch, however. He wanted this puppy to be more his, than mine, since I already have a dog who is very attached to me. I was okay with that. Sammy is my dog, and always will be. At least if this puppy was more for Nate than me, I wouldn’t have to worry about feeling as if Sammy were being replaced.

Saturday couldn’t have come any slower. I could hardly sleep all night, and woke up unusually early. I couldn’t wait to meet the puppy. The owner and I had planned to meet early before I needed to clock in and work. As I pulled into the parking lot I spotted her silver Sportage across the parking lot and walked over. She was unloading the puppy, who was a beautiful self blue merle. We talked a bit about the puppy before walking into the store. The shepherd’s name was Kassy.

The woman let me know that Kassy was in heat. She told me that she was a good dog, got a long great with other dogs and children, and was full of energy. She was smart, but she wasn’t sure how well she would do as far as house training went because she was used to going in and out whenever she wanted via the doggy door.

After talking about it for a moment, I decided I wanted to take her home. My manager had given me the okay to buy a crate and set it up in the cash office where Kassy would stay for the day. I bought her a bully stick and a bone filled with bully stick flavor, Sammy’s favorite things to chew on. The day went by pretty quickly. Kassy got to come out of the cash office a few times every other hour to go outside and stretch her legs. I couldnt wait to take her home and introduce her to Sammy.

That night, when I pulled into the driveway, Nate let Sam outside to come greet us. She ran right up to the Jeep to see me. Tails were wagging a mile a minute when I opened the back seat door to let Kassy out. All in all, they loved each other immediately. They spent a good minute sniffing each other, and running around in the driveway. 

That night Kassy had to sleep in her crate since she’s in heat. The next day I purchased a washable doggy diaper for her so she could sleep in the bedroom with us. She likes to sleep upside down, next to the bed, while Sammy sleeps underneath the bed.

We have decided to rename her Motley, a name that Nate had always said he would name his dog when he finally had his own. Motley was supposed to be a husky, but he has really taken to his new Aussie. Sunday afternoon we took the girls out for a walk around the neighborhood to get Motley familiar with her new environment. She LOVED the beach! 

I was off on Monday so Nate and I went back to the beach and spent a good couple of hours throwing rocks (Sammy loves to chase rocks). We ended up walking to the beach twice. I took a ton of videos, which can be seen on my YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/sammyACD. We learned that Motley LOVES water and is an excellent swimmer. I might have my dock dogs champion after all! ;)