Polar Weather

The polar vortex came to visit.  We are not used to truly cold weather.  We did not believe the weather man when he said the temperature would not get above freezing.  But he was right.  Moms car had icicles on it when she left work, and the yard has ice, cold water, and icicles.  Going outside is not fun.  We want our summer back.  

Hey mom-can I have a litter box?  My toes can't handle the cold!

By the way, the weather channel lied.  The temperature stayed 29F all day.  Our local guys got it right.  

 

Wordless Wednesday: This is how he chews his bone

Lightning's Revenge

A while back, I wrote about how thieving Thumper steals Lightning's bones, along with the question "Do dogs think?".  I had planned to follow that up (promptly) with Lightning's revenge, but then he got sick, and I got distracted, and now it's December, and I'm writing a post I planned to write in October. 

With respect to the question of dogs thinking, my dog trainer friend sums her opinion up as, "Dogs are problem solvers".  Thumper has demonstrated that on MANY occasions, some of which result in Lightning losing a chew bone.  I think Lightning has been taking notes from his buddy....read on and compare to Thumper's scheme.  My take on Lightning's thoughts are represented by bold print.

The scene:  Family room, where Thumper is lounging on the fancy posturepedic dog bed while Lightning is on the rug.  All the people are present.

Problem:  Thumper is on the comfy dog bed.  I want the comfy dog bed.

Research:  Thumper always wants what I have, so I have to use that to my advantage. 

Solution:  Walk over to the people.  Sit and stare at them until they talk to me and pet me.  Then snuggle up against them and make Thumper jealous.

Result:  Thumper saw Lightning getting pets, and immediately he left the comfy dog bed to come bump him out of the way and take his place.  Lightning ran over and took over the comfy dog bed.  Problem solved!

As for the bones, Lightning discovered that he can hide his bones upstairs under a bed that Thumper can't quite crawl under.  Lol.  Thumper is not fond of the stairs, but Lightning loves them.  He always has.  He runs up and down them like it's an A frame on an agility course.  So, much to my surprise one day, I heard scrambling up the stairs and some noise from the bedroom, and then Lightning appeared with his bone.  I didn't know he had it in him to outsmart Thumper about the bones, but he did. 

So, my conclusion is that yes, dogs think.  I doubt that they sit around plotting how to outdo each other.  I think it's purely spontaneous.  I've seen them think on their feet and come up with a fix for a problem as it happens - which makes sense because I think we've all witnessed that dogs are "in the moment".  They leave the big thinking and worrying to us.  ;)

 
Now I feel better.....finally got this one done.  In other news - still going to obedience class with Thumper, and he's giving me some blog fodder for future posts.  Lightning is jealous of all the treats Thumper gets while training and does not hesitate to let me know it. 
 

Do Dogs Think?

I often wonder how dogs think.  Do they think "I took two naps now my people should be home"?  Do they watch what their people do and think "those crazy people....where are they always running to"?  A dear friend who is also a respected local dog trainer says that dogs think but not that deeply.  Her position is "dogs are problem solvers".  I can't argue with that - as demonstrated by Thumper in the following tale:

Sunday, as I was leaving to go work on the new house (will it EVER get finished?), I gave each dog a chew bone.  They ran in opposite directions and sat with their bones.  You would think they don't trust each other....lol.  When I got home later, Lightning had chewed on his, but it still looked new.  Thumper's was a nub. 

I went into the bathroom to run my bathwater, and my two shadows followed me. Thumper took his position on the foot of the bed (his bone was now gone).  Lightning sat on the floor and chewed contentedly on his bone.  Suddenly, Thumper barked. Very loudly. Lightning, who obviously believed he had missed something while chewing on his bone, dropped the bone and scampered out of the room.  Immediately Thumper hopped off the bed, grabbed the bone, and jumped back to his spot.  Thumper's problem-solving process would have been like this....

Problem:  I don't have a bone but there is a bone in this room.

Research:  Lightning has a bone.  Lightning always runs to the door when I bark.  

Solution:  Bark and take Lightnings bone when he drops it and leaves the room.    If it's in my mouth, it's mine, after all. 

Very similar to the scientific method, isn't it?  (Yes, I'm a science nerd....). Next post I'll share how Lightning has figured out to cope with his thieving buddy.  

So long post tonight.  If you stuck with it til the end - thanks!  Do you ever think about stuff like this - do you wonder if your dog is a philosopher like I do?

Wordless Wednesday - My Special Boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quickie Update

Hi there - I've been enjoying reading all of your blogs, but I've been less than regular in blogging myself.  I have been snapping lots of pics the pups doing silly stuff, so I'm going to do a quick update here of random stuff.

1.  We are moving!  We stumbled across a house literally around the corner from us as it went up for sale.  1 acre yard, decent house, though a little bit neglected the last few years.  Can't wait to introduce the dogs to the big back yard and watch them run.  Makes my heart happy just to think about it.

2.  Thumper caught another mole.  The guys found it Sunday when they were mowing the yard.  He killed it and hid it this time, so I wouldn't throw away his treasure like before.  I have seen no evidence of a bitten nose this time, and I have not found any ringworm either.  (To recap a previous post - he killed a mole a couple of years ago and ended up with a giant ugly sore on his nose.  I blamed the mole.  I'd like to link to the previous post about his mole-hunting expeditions, but I can't figure out how to do that.)

3.  Since Lightining's surgery a couple months ago, he wants to play alot more, and he is a bit bolder in playing with Thumper.  Typically, if Thumper has a toy, Lightning ducks and hides.  T is top dog, way more alpha than Lightning.  So I was very surprised to Lightning take Thumper's ball, and play keepaway with it.  Or dog parade as I like to call it....Lightning marches purposefully around and around the furniture with Thumper following him step for step.  It eventually turns into chase-me-up-the-stairs, and then Lightning dives under a bed with the ball (Thumper is a bit too big to crawl under there).  Lol.  He's not such an old guy after all.  ;)

Go ahead and stare.  You shiny eyes don't scare me.   I've got the ball now.  HA!

NOTE:  When Thumper got the ball back, he tore it up.  Gutted it and left what was left scattered all about.  I guess if he can't have it, no dog can.  

4.  Thumper has mastered the "down" command.  So far, he knows "sit", "down", and "off".  Working on "stay" and trying to break him of pulling on the leash.  Thanks to some advice from Human Rescues Dog, I am feeling inspired.

5.  Lightning is giving me really dirty looks right now.  I think he is trying to make me feel guilty for blogging instead of petting him.  He keeps scratching his ears and looking pitiful, glancing glaring at me while he does it.   Now he's licking his toes....

On that note, I will wrap this up and go scratch his ears.  It's nice to be needed.

Good night and stay cool...it's miserably hot here.  Thank goodness for A/C.

Monday Mischief - Lightning's Day

Thumper is VERY toy driven. Stuffies to fight with and unstuff or balls etc to fetch. He's not picky. In a pinch, paper is a great substitute. Lightning is just the opposite. Maybe it's age, or maybe it's mischief. His idea of a toy, now, is Thumper's heels. Thumper runs to fetch, and Lightning chases him and chomps on his heel. It's a sneaky move. So this Monday Mischief is dedicated to Lightning, who is normally not my mischief maker. Have a great Monday (is that even possible????). :)

Lightning Speaks

Hello everyone,

Thanks for checking on me. I'm not sure what happened. First I was going for a car ride, then I was in the vets but trying to leave with mom, then I was in a crate, then I woke up and was confused so I went back to sleep. I slept at the vet place, in case you didn't know. I missed home but slept alot. Then mom got me and I came home. My leg has stitches but I can run and play anyway. I've been a good dog and I haven't chewed on them and had to wear the cone of shame. I want mom to put that on Thumper so I can laugh at him. Here is a picture of me so you can see I'm doing good. The best thing is when I got home I got to eat soft dog food that was yummy. That made me happy. That, and being back home with my boy. I missed him the most.

Post-Op

Thank you for your kind comments. Lightning is doing well but is staying overnight at the vet's. She said the masses were lipoma. I'm relieved. Looking forward to getting him home tomorrow. :)

Surgery

Lightning is having surgery tomorrow to remove a couple of masses. Our vet says one is definitely a lipoma, and the other is likely a lipoma. I'm anxious about this. The thinking part of me knows, as far as dog problems go, lipoma is the least of them. But one is large and in his armpit (if dogs have those), and I'm afraid it's going to hurt him alot. I'm a worrier by nature, and my fears run rampant about the second one that is "likely" lipoma. I've never had to care for a dog with stitches like this either, so that's got me worried too. I'm afraid for my boy. And me. The Bible verse "Let not your heart be troubled.." keeps running through my head, but my heart isn't listening. It's troubled. It's as stubborn as Thumper.

He's done it again......

So, he's done it again. Thanks to (I'm sure you guessed it) Thumper, I'm now frequenting the chiropractors office.

It started a couple of weeks ago....this really irritating popping in my neck and headaches. Awful headaches. While reviewing my situation with the doc, he asked if I had been in any accidents or been jarred lately. Ha! That "jarred" my memory. I had definitely been jerked around by dear Thumper on a walk, when we happened upon 2 dachshunds hanging out (unleashed of course) with their human. Seriously, who lets little dogs with no leashes loiter in a street at 9:30 at night? Anyway, the dachshunds moved, Thumper caught sight of it, and then he lunged. Omg. Totally caught me off guard, because he had been acting like he was going to ignore them. Im really glad he didn't get the dachshunds. He looked really sorry for misbehaving when I finally got him back by me. I really hope the doc can make my neck normal again. Til then he's in time out! Lightning is enjoying Thumpers new status, I think.

I am such a good boy.  Aren't I, Mom?
Can we go for a walk?  I know how to heel like a good dog...we can leave Thumper here.

Wordless Wednesday-The Ear that Defies Gravity

Wordless Wednesday - Bitey Face

This is what happens when Bitey Face gets out of control.

He couldn't let Thumper get the best of him, so Thumper now has a swollen upper lip. Apparently Lightning has a mean bite with his little teeth.

They are just like two-legged boys.....not happy until somebody's bleeding.

Monday Mischief - Thumper takes over

Hello Friends (this is Thumper - I kicked mom off the computer to go prepare for a hurricane so I can tell a story),

Things have changed around here agin.  Our boy went back to school and now we can nap all day.  We sure were tired after our summer trip. 
It started with me and Lightning just playing outside and being good dogs.  Maybe we were barking a lot and ticking off the neighbor lady...we're not sure. But we do that a lot tho.  It's kind of fun.  The lady yells loud.  And then we bark louder...BOL!  So in the middle of this Mom calls us and we see the opened car and we jumped in.    We were so excited to go for a CAR RIDE we were drooling on the windows.  Maybe we were going to DOG PARK!  IT's the best, you know.  When the car stopped, we got out.  It wasn't the dog park.  But there was lots of dogs there - lots of them and they were all barking and saying hello.  Great - FRIENDS!  I thought.  We can play "Who's Alpha?" and have peeing contests.  Lightning wasn't excited...he saw Mom taking the big container of our dog food to the lady at the office.  Office?!?  **GULP***  That's when we knew we were screwed.

This place was OUTSIDE.  You heard me.  O-U-T-S-I-D-E.  What are we - some kind of animals?  We don't live outside.  We play outside and go, um, you know, outside, but we live inside with people.  Anyway I'm not sure what you call the place.  It had rooms for dogs.  With some sort of roof over it.  But it was open.  Sort of.  Mostly. And it was HOT.  Maybe it was camp?  Or hell.  I here people say it's hot as hell around here...maybe that place is what they mean.  I don't know.  We heard the lady tell mom she gave us a nice spot at the end where it  was cool and Mom left us there!  While we in our spot on the end, it started raining and thundering and lightening (the sky kind - not like dog Lightning) and we were scared and wet hot and stinky and OUTSIDE.  Sort of.  It was bad.  We were there for like 432 days.  And nights too.  It was the worst.  

They finally remembered us and came to get us and the food (there was plenty - cause we didn't eat much on our vacation).  We couldn't get away from that office lady fast enough.  We ran to the car like we were chasing cats and squirrels.   At home we ran inside and crawled in our dog beds and slept like puppies.  Inside.  I-N-S-I-D-E.  with air conditioning and hugs and snuggles and pets.  It was heaven.  

Mom is still being punished for making us take that vacation.  Lightning leaves her presents upstairs and I take her spot in the big bed and try to push her out of the bed at night.  It's great being home.  Me and Lightning agree - we don't want more trips if they don't go to the dog park.  Or petsmart, you know, for toys and milk bones.

That's the end of the bad summer trip story.  Does any other dog have a story like that?

Slobbers,
Lightning and Thumper

Sweet Lightning

He's just staring at me. I wonder what he wants?

Wordless Wednesday - Begging

The Pressure....

They are gone again today. I have to watch the house AND Thumper. Oh the pressure...

What a Mystery

There always seems to be a mystery around my house. Which dog pooped in the guest room? What happened to the ground meat I was going to cook for dinner? Where do all the lost sock go? Well, today I got home from work to a brand new mystery: Both dogs are muddy. On their chests and not really anywhere else, except for a patch of mud on Lightning's rear. I can't figure out how they did it. Did they take turns laying in their water bowl before flopping in dirt? Here are a couple of pics showing them. All guesses for how they did this are welcome!

The Candy Box

Some naughty dog made a mess this morning. They had been out and had been fed, and they should have been asleep again. Instead, I found a chewed box on the floor....the Dad had left it by his computer on a table last night. The box had contained chocolate covered almonds (but they had been eaten last night thank goodness). This morning the ends were chomped off and shreds of box were all around it. I wonder which naughty dog it was...possibly Mr. I'm-the-Good-Dog (aka Lightning)? Hmmmmm...

A Dog's Plan for Monday

Can you leave the TV on so I can watch the Daytona 500 while you are at work? Please? And can I have a Milkbone too?