Life with the Three Crazy Dogs

Something smells good, I think.

What you looking at??

That’s Chase.  He got so big.  He is all muscles.  We last weighed him, he was 93 lbs (2 months ago) and we think he is heavier now.  It seems like he is still growing.  His back end is now higher than the front which makes him look weird when he walks.  He is not limping but is cautious when he wants to sit or down.   Bathe him yesterday.  Hah!  I can’t believe I said this, the shower stall is too small for him and I in it.  Oh, and I incorporated teeth brushing into his daily routine and all I can say is, he hates the finger brush but of course, the peanut flavored toothpaste is what he looks forward to each time he sees me at 7:30 p.m.  Yes, that’s the time I brush all three of their fangs.  And yes, I’m trying to save $150/dog for dental cleaning at the vet.  Economi meleset!

Anyway, the yard is Chase’s favorite place to hang out now – the sun and a lot of sticks to pick and choose for him to chew to pieces.  Yes, the ground is all dry and no snow in sight!  But wait, tomorrow will be white again.  I’m hoping we won’t get any, that it will go north of us! :)

Cooper is our first dog and of course he came gets all the attention from me and DB.  Coops is loving only if he wants to.  He is an extremely dominant male Lab.  He will tell you he does not like it if you give him impromptu pats.  Yes, he will come to you if he wants his pats.  When I play rough with him, he doesn’t mind it but when I put an arm across his shoulders, he will tell me to buzz off!  Gurrrrr!  That is how he sounds.  I know I’m not suppose to piss him off when he does that sound, but here I am, imitate his growls and fire him up in which he thinks I’m playing with him.  He will get into his playful mode but some days he will ignore me and give that “don’t bother me” look.  I call it the “cold shoulder”.   This dog has his moments.  Yeah, moody.  I don’t quite like his personality, honestly, although he is very protective especially when we go for our walks and of course in the house.

Then comes Ranger.  We adopted him when he was three years old.  He was neglected and left alone in the back yard with his bucket of food and water by his first owners, previously from Minnesota but moved to Detroit, Michigan.  So you can imagine how big Ranger was: like a barrell, that was what the breeder told us.  His breeder brought him back to Minnesota when he was a year old and got him back to tip top shape after a year.  Ranger has his rules set when we got him: loves to eat, does not like human and other dog interactions.  But after seven years with us, he still loves to eat but he loves the human contact now, although he still prefers to be alone some times.  He is a very docile dog.  I can use him as a pillow, put my arm around his shoulders, rub his ears, pat him, and massage him, he will not budge, he will let me.  Needless to say, he became my favorite!  The only thing I cannot shake his bad habit is nibbling and grab a hold of our hand.  He loves to nibble at us when we rub his belly and when we play with him. His tail will go 200 mph but that nibble and grip on his mouth feels like 600 pounds.

Since Chase came into our household last year, periodically and became permanently in June, I have to admit, I’m being bad! :(  Yes, kick my butt if you want to.  I favor him more.  Why?  Coz he is very loving.  Too loving and loves human contact from day 1.  He will come to us for pats, lay his head on the sofa or on our thigh and even when it bed time, he will come to us, lay his head on the bed (where my face is), look at us with those puppy eyes.  He has a very playful demeanor, no one sign of aggression when we give him “hugs”.  The only one thing we both do not like about is Chase loves to lick every damn thing in sight which drives us crazy.  No matter how much you tell him NO, he still does it.  How to stop that habit??  I can’t carry the bottle bitter apple with me all the time.  But I still don’t mind him.  Maybe it’s new broom sweeps well? 

I noticed since Chase is with us permanently, Cooper is giving both of us lots of “cold shoulders” but he still comes to us for pats which I give him freely.  And he always is the first to get his food, treats and every thing else because he is, after all, the resident dog.

Hi peeps, I have totally abandoned my blog.  I have things to blog but I’m just not in the mood to get on with it.  If it’s not for the paid posts, I be shutting this blog down when the hosting expires in June, but I can’t.  So, here I am, trying to update this pathetic blog to make it look as if there is some life in it. 

The home internet is dead.  The ComCast (our internet provider) tech won’t be here to fix it till Friday and we have no internet since Monday afternoon.   How much I rely on the internet is unspeakable.  It’s driving me nuts when I’m home.  Using the cellphone to access the web is not good of an idea.  It will probably rake up the minutes.

Hubs is still working his goofy 12-hour shift schedule which is working 2 days, off two; work 3 days, off three.  The boss wants him in since he is lead tech now for his shift to get in at 5 am.  His regular shift hours are 6 am – 6 pm.  It sure is nice if he can leave the place at 6, but nope, he has to wait for the operators to leave, shut the machines down and then leave for the day.  That is usually 6:45 pm if he is lucky, but most days is 7:15 pm.  Some days he really drags his ass into the house.  He does not get home till 8 pm on certain days depending on traffic. 

The good news from him last week was his boss asked if he wants to work 2nd shift, Mon-Fri, 2:30 pm-11:00 pm.  Hell yeah he is going to grab that opportunity.  This shift might start some time in February.  Hopefully it’s soon coz the 14-hour shifts is taking a toll on him. 

The boys now.  We took Cooper back to the vet for a followup check.  Those awwees are not getting any better.  I have to say, it did the first few days after the heavy duty antibiotic jabs and anti-depressants.  I think the anit-depressants did not work after that coz that fella was just not as “mellow” as compare to the initial period.  i still think the vet should have prescribed a heavier dose of anit-depressants for him.  Oh well, for now the vet did the same thing but the dosages are heavier.  The Elizabethan collar is not working either coz this fella found a way to go around it.

Next is Chase.  This fella is experiencing hip problems already, we think, at 1 year and 1.5 months old.  We already started him on glucosamine (Cosequin) and taking some of Ranger’s pain killers.  I have been taking the 3 boys to the dog park at Alimagnet every week, at least 4 times a week.  This hip problem started on Monday after we returned from the park.  That poor fella had his left hind leg hanging when he was walking,  drinking, and eating.  I didn’t walk him for 2 days, and he was damn hyper yesterday morning.  He found his stick and wanted to fetch which he did for a few times.  I saw he was just fine and dandy, no more limpy, back to himself.  So i took them for their walks to the trails.  He was off, really happy and I was happy to see him happy!  :) The walk home was good, he was happy trying to lick Cooper’s ears the whole time.  Once we got home, he wanted to fetch his stick again, which I didn’t throw for him.  When it was time to feed him, he followed me to get their food and I saw him limping.  Damn.  Not what I want to see.  He could not go up the stairs.  Had to stop and figured a way to hop upstairs.  DB came home last night, he didn’t join the greeting committee.  He heard DBs truck and whined, that was all he could do.  Poor boy.  I feel so so bad now. He was still limping quite a bit this morning but still managed to get out the front yard to greet another the neighbor dog going for his morning walk with his master.  No walks today for him and he can whines and makes that Chewbacca, from Star Wars, sounds all he wants.

What’s underneath the rug? I’m sure it smells ok.

Chase is whooped from this afternoon play session with Cooper.

Chasey boy is back at our house this morning.  He will be here for a few days.  BF went for a wrist surgery and will not be able to care for him.  So, DB brought Chasey bud home and, boy, was he a firecracker.  He was out running the yard probably a few rounds.  DB said when he got in the house, he was running around the house before DB even had the chance to take his collar off.  That poor fella must be deprived of his space, I guess. 

SD sent a picture of him taken last night with him laying next to his rawhide.  Not sure why he was moping over at SD’s place.  Yes, they have a small townhome, but that should not be a problem for him.  He goes nuts when SD and BF come visit us.  So, why was he not drinking water, like a “sun seen”, ate a little, gave him his usual carrots and apples but he didn’t want them, spit it out and laid the apple next to him, not touching it, and his tail was not wagging – always down.  Was not interested in his usual rawhides.  What was his problem? 

When I got home this afternoon, I could hear him bark by the door to the garage and then his usual whining.  As soon as I opened the door, bang, he was right there, whining, and trying to jump on me.  Strange, man.  He was behaving so weird at their place, as if he is depressed, but from a dog?  He is like a human, a kid. 

Right now he is sleeping and snoring at the same time.  As usual, I took him for his walks and let him run free at the school field.  He was running like he just “fong kaam”, non stop, back and forth between me and wherever he was running to.  Good thing about him is after a certain distance, he will come right back to me.  Then into the trails we went.  Same thing, he was running up the trails and back to me and disappeared for a few seconds and reappeared, all huffing and puffing. 

I am not sure when he is going back to SD’s and if he does, I hope he won’t mope anymore.  I felt so bad when DB told me he looked depressed.  We shall see how it goes with this little guy.