Alpha Dog

I know most of my post lately have been about one dog or another, but lately that seems what my life has been consumed with. I have come to realize that responsible dog ownership comes with a price...my time, patience and effort.

In the past, before I had my little Brandi the dogs I had owned had mostly been outside pets. Growing up, my mother was the animal lover but my dad never allowed animals in the house so the ones we had were also outside pets. My first husband also believed a dog is an animal and should be outside...although I do remember a short while of having a dog live inside with us. He was absolutely the worst untrained wild dog I have ever known but I loved him nonetheless. I was a newlywed with a husband that worked out of town most of the time so the dog was an emotional replacement I suppose...

Anyway, my argument was always the same as my dads. They make messes, they have accidents, and they are dirty but most of all they are animals so they belong outside.

It wasn't until I had Brandi that I decided that I would once again try having an inside dog. She was little and cute and how much mess could she make...very little did she ever. Mostly an accident here and there or some stray vomit in the corner. How much pee and vomit can a 5 lb dog have?? Not much.

After we got Bo and decided that he also would be an inside dog I was, and still am, very skeptical. Although I love his sweet personality, he sort of cramps my style right now. He tries to take over furniture and our space by being right up on us...he weighs 65 lbs so he's not just taking up a square foot area.

When I'm preparing food I have to constantly watch and make sure that he doesn't jump on the counter and snatch the fixings...he's always in the kitchen when I cook monitoring the situation in hopes of a surprise snack. Also, because it's just the three of us, we eat in the living area. He moves right in on our personal space in hopes of a morsel.

His feet are the worst. They drive me crazy. When he goes outside..which is very often because he drinks alot of water and food and needs to eliminate often, he runs around the yard and pick ups every piece of wet, sticky mud that is available. Before he comes back inside I have to wash his feet. This has to be done a few times a day...very time consuming.

He also has severe separation anxiety so I have to constantly worry that he has broken out of his cage or chewed out of our wood privacy fence while I'm gone. I take him the places that I can take him but he can't always go everywhere with me. My new car now smells like a dog and there is white dog hair embedded in my seats and smudge prints all over the window. I have to constantly spray and wipe down my car. By the way, just in case you haven't caught on I like things clean, neat and tidy. Hence, the reason I will always be a small dog person.

I find that I have to vacuum and sweep constantly now. Quite honestly, he's working me to death. When Toby is home he takes over the responsibility of caring for him but in reality I am the one that is here with him the most so the brunt of the responsibility falls on me.

I knew this, I bought into it, why am I bitching?? I don't know. In the past I have been known not to make the best decisions to make other people's lives happier...usually at the disposal of my own sanity and happiness.

On the plus side, Bo is very smart and learns commands quickly so I'm hoping with a little training he can be molded into something more manageable. He also is a very large incentive for me to exercise. Every day I walk a couple of miles with him right beside me. There is something about having the dog beside me that makes my walks worthwhile..very serene and almost spiritual.

When we first got Bo we knew we wanted a well trained family dog. With Bo's size and breed we know that he won't be an asset to our family without training. He is very sweet and loving now and we want him to stay that way. Without training I fear that we may lose our alpha dog role and he may take over.

A few weeks back we took to watching Cesar Millan The Dog Wisperer and the more I watched it the more realization I had that Brandi was definitely the alpha dog in our home. Luckily, because of her size she was no match for us even so.

So, in my search for a dog trainer I have been doing extensive reading on dog behavior. It's already clear that Bo does not completely see us as alpha dog...yet.

I feel like I have a long, hard road ahead but I am determined to win this one. I don't take the responsibility I took on lightly. I have an advantage over most animal lovers in that I don't view my dog as a human.

Unlike with my child I can emotionally detach myself from an animal and use the logic part of my brain. I don't use my animal to fill an emotional void that was never fulfilled. I believe this will help me in making my dog what he is suppose to be...my follower. I am on a mission for the knowledge that it takes to do so.

Wish me luck!!

Out and About

Winters in the south are typically mild, but this year we have seemed to have more cold days in a row than in prior years. We've also had alot happen this year that has prevented us from doing "family fun stuff".

So true to the south's nature, it snowed yesterday but today it was warm enough to walk around in short sleeves. I decided to take advantage of the warm temps and sunshine and take Bo and Summer to the local park for some exercise and change of scenery.

Summer and I were "wowed" by the frozen water playscape at the pool....



I talked Summer into holding onto Bo's leash while she rode her scooter. I figured it would be fun for her and Bo....well, it was until Bo abruptly stopped to take a sniff at the pile of dog poop in the middle of the trail...

Snow in Austin Texas????

When you live in the south snow is rare but not unheard of. When we lived on the Alabama Gulf Coast we would get a rare snow treat...only about 5 times in the 40 plus years I lived there. In actuality, it was never really "snow" as northern counterparts would think of snow, but to us it was white and fluffy and stuck long enough to appear to be snow.

Since we have lived in Austin we have had the experience of snow for two years in a row. I'll be honest, last year's snowfall was exciting. It had been over 15 years since I had the experience of snow so I was a little pumped about it when I was able to watch those fluffy flakes flowing so elegantly down from the sky.

Last night's snowfall was not as glamorous. Snow fell during the night so I missed the magic of seeing it fall...which is my favorite part of snow. We also didn't get as much as we did last year so the coverage was not as impressive. Also, I guess the big thrill of snow was over for me after last year. Today it was nothing more than a cold, wet mess.

Even so, I did find it impressive enough to take some snowy day pics...




Bo got hit by his first snowball!!!









Bo gets daily walks and he's waiting for his snow day walk...and yes, I did take him for an extra long walk today. He's such a sissy...he was scared of a snowman someone had made at the end of their driveway and I had to drag him by it..

Welcome Bilbo

After Brandi's death we immediately wanted to channel our love to another animal. Since the very first time I moved out on my own in my early twenties I have owned a dog.Small dogs, medium dogs, big dogs. Any kind of dog..mutts, pits, rottweilers, chihuahuas, etc.

Toby has the same affection for dogs. Since him and I have been together we have owned at least 8 or more dogs...not at a time of course. It was only natural that we wanted to "replace" Brandi. What better way to move on then to be able to give the love you had for one dog on to another that needs it.

So off to the shelter we headed. The shelter has to be one of the saddest places I know. The energy of doom, gloom and sadness there makes my heart ache.

There is no way I could ever adopt every dog in there but I can at least save one animals life and that's what I try to focus on.

My initial goal was to adopt another small dog. I prefer small dogs. Small dogs mean smaller messes and less trouble in my eyes. Although we have owned larger dogs, it's been a while since we have had one. Toby and Summer tend to prefer the larger more playful dogs and as we were walking by the cages checking out the many breeds I noticed they tended to be eyeing the bigger dogs.

I cringed but then I thought how selfish of me. I always get to choose what kind of dog we get. That said, I am the one that has the majority of the responsibility to care for it.....

Toby spotted one that he took a liking to. A year old black and white American Bulldog Mix. He had sad looking eyes but yet seemed friendly, not to hyper and yet playful. He was also listed as one of the volunteer favorites which was a plus in my eyes.

I myself spotted a little tri-colored Chihuahua mix that was adorable. I decided that we all could have what we wanted and adopt both of them. I wanted everyone to walk away happy and in the past have owned up to 3 dogs at a time so I am no stranger to multiple dog ownership.

We were required to have a meet and greet where we got both the dogs together to see how they interact. Well, as you would guess, the larger dog scared the littler one just because he was so much bigger. The shelter recommended that we not adopt them together. Sucked for me but I figured it was for the best anyway. After all, I wanted to get "Bo" home and get to know his personality before I added another smaller dog into our home.

We have now had "Bilbo"...I call him "Bo" for short, for two weeks and he is a wonderful dog...not perfect but better than I expected He learns fast and has adapted well into our home. Our largest dilemma has been his separation anxiety. He breaks out of his kennel when we leave him and has literally busted through our privacy fence....sigh..

We will begin obedience training soon to tweak out the few issues we have with our new family member.

Granted, I don't have that love connection with him yet but he grows on me a little every day and I hope that one day I will love him just as much as I did my little Brandi.

Meet Bo!

Rest In Peace...Continued

We arrived at the vet and Toby immediately ran Brandi into the office. On the way to the clinic she had began to convulse. I didn't even think about it when we jumped into the car. Toby put Brandi in the backseat and we jumped into our usual spots in the car....Toby and I up front and Summer in the back.

With Summer being in the back with Brandi she had to witness her convulse. I'm not sure what kind of impact sitting in the backseat while your pet is convulsing and dying will have on her. Understandably, she was clearly upset. Unfortunately none of us get out of this life unscathed by bad experiences. Life goes on.

I have to say that hour spent in the vet's office was the worst for all of us. Toby and I had to make a decision. Brandi had gone septic. Her body had been slowly poisoned by the undelivered babies still left in her little body. After thousands of dollars there was still only a 50/50 chance of her survival. The big question was.."Was our pet's life worth it?" After all, Toby is an artist and I'm a housewife, not really that financially well off at that moment in time.

I don't know what was worse. Having to make the decision to euthanize my beloved pet or having Summer fall apart on me and tell me how much she hated me in the vets office after we told the vet our verdict. Summer with her 10 year old mind came armed with only her emotions and no logic.

These are the times that we really miss having family around. I would have really loved to spare my daughter the horrid experience and left her with a family member while Toby and I did the "dirty deed"...but then on the flip side not being shielded and protected from adult experiences at a young age may benefit her in her adult life...

We opted to bring her body home with us and bury her in a special spot in the yard. Riding home with her wrapped up dead body next to me was like a nightmare I kept hoping I would wake up from. I missed her already so much. We were all quite on the way home from mental exhaustion and shock. All that could be heard from us all were our sniffles and muffled cries. Such a sad, sad, night.

Toby and I woke up early the next morning and buried her. We both held each other and cried and remembered all those things that we loved the most about her.

It's been two weeks since her death and I still can't think about her without shedding a tear...probably never will.

This picture was taken a few weeks before her death...

Rest In Peace

The year 2011 has not gotten off to the best start thus far. But on a more positive note it has not been disastrous and could always be worse, just annoying and heartbreaking. Just the way life rolls sometimes.

Aside from my oven, computer issues, and other minor annoyances the year has brought thus far, we had to euthanize my beloved almost 5 year old chihuahua, Brandi.

In the past year Brandi had taken a liking to the little male terrier a couple of houses down. Anytime they happened to be both outside at the same time they always sought each other out for company.

We had never had Brandi spayed because there had never been any real need in the past. This is the first time she has ever encountered any situations with neighborhood dogs. Well, if there is a will there is a way and my little Brandi ended up with a belly bulge and the promise of bouncing baby pups.

Quite honestly, we were excited. We had often talked about adding another dog to our home and liked the idea the new addition or two would be Brandi's blood.

Well, things didn't quite turn out the way we expected as things sometimes don't. Matter of fact, things suddenly took a turn for the worst. Brandi went into labor on schedule and gave birth to one pup. For whatever dog reason there may be, she ended up gnawing off the pups back legs and he died..or for all I know it was already dead when she gave birth. I pretty much was leaving her alone and letting nature take it's course.

I assumed from the size of her belly she had more than one pup in there. We waited and waited and waited, but by the next day no more pups had been born.

The next day was a Sunday. Brandi seemed okay but she wouldn't eat or drink and still looked poochy in the stomach. I wrapped her up and held in her in my arms most of that day. I decided I would take her to our local vet first thing when they opened Monday morning.

By late Sunday afternoon I decided to take her outside and let her do her business and enjoy some outdoor air...thinking it may brighten her spirits. We were only outside about 10 minutes but by the time I brought her back inside she had taken a turn for the worst. She started vomiting repeatedly. I was really getting worried by this time and instinctively knew that something was very wrong.

She was vomiting so much that she began dry heaving. I put some old blankets in the laundry basket and put her limp body in it so that I could have her contained but near me. Summer and I were loving on her and petting her when she lost control of her bowels while she was laying there.

At this point I knew her body was beginning to shut down and she would never make it until the vet opened the next morning. I knew in my heart she was going to die if I didn't get her help. I was scared, worried, and emotionally drained from the whole weekend ordeal. Even though I was trying to keep my emotions in check, Summer sensed my concern and began to get emotional asking me if she were going to die.

Toby was at work so I called him and informed him that I thought Brandi needed immediate vet attention. We got a recommendation from his boss for an all night vet clinic in Round Rock...a 30 minute drive from our house.

I can't see well to drive at night and never do unless I am forced. In the emotional condition I was in and trying to find a vet clinic in the dark in an unfamiliar area would have not been safe for any of us.

Luckily Toby was not busy and an hour away from the end of his shift so he was able to leave early, come home and grab us all for our rush to the vet. When we arrived at the clinic it was 8:30p.m Sunday night.

To be continued.....

Pedernales Falls State Park

This day was a disaster...for Summer anyway. We have been to Pedernales State Park before and loved it. We took Lucas there because we knew he would love it as much as we did.

Simplified story...when we were there previously we had not been able to see the whole park so we decided to hike a different area of the park that I assumed would still lead us to the sandy river where we had hung out before. I knew the kids would prefer to be on the river and I wanted Lucas to see how cool it was too.

Well, Summer doesn't mind hiking at all if there is something to look at and explore along the way. Unfortunately the path we took was nothing but 5 miles of scenery and gravel path. Nothing that would interest a 9 year old.

We never did make it to the portion of the park I wanted to show Lucas but nevertheless I think at least he enjoyed the outdoor adventure. Can't say the same for my littlest one.

Here are some pics of our day....