Meatballs and Buster

So after reading this post yesterday by Jen, I was inspired to make meatballs with my spaghetti last night. I made homemade crackers with sliced roasted garlic bread then crushed them, mixed it with ground turkey, egg, and terriyaki sauce....Voila! It was really yummy, and I even have some left over for lunch today.

Next, Buster is doing OK. The doc told us to leave the bandage on for 24 hours so it didn't bleed, however Buster had the thing off in 12. No, he didn't chew it off (good boy!) but he did shake it off (hmm, maybe it wasn't taped well to begin with). So last night of course the thing was still bleeding and I had to make a homemade bootie with socks. It actually worked quite well and he didn't seem to mind the sock as much as the actual bandage. First we took one of my socks and wrapped it around his foot to create pressure on his toe and taped it down. Then we put one of Thomas's socks over top of it like an actually sock and taped it down for extra protection and padding. We had to do the same thing this morning as well. We probably could have left the old (homemade) one on, but it had gotten all bloody and such so I wanted him to have a fresh one. I am going to re-dress it one more time this evening and if it still bleeding by tomorrow I will probably call the vet back. Have you ever had a dog with his toenail cut off before? They bleed like no other don't they?

Hello Monday....

Today started out like any other Monday....got up, ate breakfast, let the dogs out, proceed to getting ready. However, when I let the dogs back in DH noticed Buster's foot was all bloody. Turns out he ripped his toenail practically out of the bed (ouch!). So, that led to an unexpected trip to the vet at 8am to cut off the remaining nail, wrap it up, and have him sport a lovely e-collar for the next 24 hours (which of course he hates,haha) while the bandage is on. All is well and he is fine, but what a way to start out the week huh?

Oh, but I must say I am super impressed with the vet this morning because she wasn't supposed to come in until 9 (as in the assist. called her and she was still in her p.j's), but she said she needed to run a permission slip to her daughter at school so she would come by the office and do Buster's nail before going home and getting ready to actually come to work instead of making us wait an hour. It was super sweet.

My dogs love me

So, for those who don't know I have been sick these past few days and trying very hard to keep my fever down. Well last night I decided to run the AC and put the fan on in hopes of freezing it out of me, lol (btw, it worked!), so I slept on the couch so DH wouldn't be disturbed. Well, Ginger decided to sleep with me on the couch while DH and Buster slept in the bed; however around 3:30 Buster had to go outside and when he comes back in he jumps right onto the couch with me. So, from 3:30 to 6:15 the dogs and myself slept on the couch while my husband got the king bed all to himself....someone tell me how this happened again? =P

Oh, and since there has been at least one sick person in my house for a week now it is a complete disaster zone...spring started today so I guess I will have to do some spring cleaning this weekend!

Yay Buster!!

Last night was the first night since we got Buster he didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to potty! When we first got him it was 2:30 or 3:00 every night, then it slowly moved to 4:00, then most recently 5:00 or 5:30....last night though, he didn't have to go out until after I was up and showered. Rock on little buddy! =)

Personal Dog Trainer

So, because my dogs (well, ok really just the ONE dog) is crazy; DH and I hired a personal dog trainer to come to our house and help us teach them manners. I have trained dogs before, but Ginger takes the cake, and I knew I needed extra help and suggestions. The trainer (named Katie too) came over on Friday and spent about an hour and half here. She gave us all sorts of tips and tricks to better communicate with our high energy dog, and gave up plastic prong collars to work on the pulling (btw, it works!). All in all we are on our way to a happy, controlled doggie household =D

And, because I am talking about my dogs I will leave you with a few pictures:

Ahhh-Mazing

There is something wonderfully perfect about eating my lunch outside on a soon to be spring day (it's 66 and sunny here right now), watching my puppies play outside in the yard together. The angel food cake for dessert made it an extra yummy stress-free moment too! =D

My furbabies....as promised

Yes, this is my third post today so if you are just tuning in on this brisk Sunday, don't forget to read the other two and catch up. I had to leave work early because of the cramps.....seriously I thought I was going to throw up, but 2 extra strength midol and an hour later they are manageable and I can think clearly yet again ;-) So, as promised here are a few (ok, I admit...a lot of) pictures of my furbabies.....some are of just Ginger during a snow we had about a month ago =)


Hey Mom, throw the snowball already...

Wait, where did it go? I can't find it!

Yummy....I eat snow, and I think it is really good!

Hey, what do you think you are doing?

This picture is really blurry, but I think it looks like a cool watercolor painting.

Hello up there!

Proof of how hard it is to get a good picture of them playing outside.

Check out my ears! (They do that a lot)

OK dude, you might be cool, but I still have my eye on you!

Ok, maybe you aren't THAT bad....

A little closer I guess.

Highlight of Mommy's day!

Moment of peace....from the front.


Ironically, the last four pictures were taken as I was posting the other ones...I just had to grab my camera and share!

Life with Buster

Well, having two dogs in the house has been quite the adjustment. The new pooch is just great though....he is much better behaved and well mannered than the shelter lead us to believe, which was a nice surprise. Actually, it makes Thomas and I laugh because before the shelter allowed us to adopt him some lady sat down with us and told us that it sounded like we wanted an "average" dog and he (called Spud Jr at the time) was VERY high energy. Um lady, have you MET the little energy freak of nature in my car you let me adopt last year with no questions asked. This dog is NOTHING compared to her....she wears him the hell out (which actually posses quite a problem since we are trying to keep him somewhat restricted due to his surgery on Thursday). We are limiting the indoor play and doing 2 or 3 fifteen minute outside play times a day (plus of course, all potty breaks, which are a quick in and out).

Again, the new puppy is great....it's MY dog that is the issue (seriously, if I thought taking one of them back would be the only solution to the problem, I would *want* to take HER back, but on the other hand she is our burden and another family deserves the better behaved one-oh, and we are NOT at this point yet, I'm just saying).....she annoys the ever living shit out of him by trying to jump on him and grab his ears (apparently it's a dominance thing). He had enough one time and turned around to snap at her....she backed off, but we gave both of them a time out away from each other in their crate. Right now I am having a rare moment (with enough time to type this) because she is sleeping on the couch and he is sleeping on a pillow bed on the floor. We have decided that Ginger can keep her couch privilege if she asks to get up and gets down when told, which she does. Buster however is not allowed on the couch....but he seems pretty cool with it being the laid back guy he is.

I understand this is a huge change for Ginger, and we are trying to be understanding but she is pushing limits like crazy. As mentioned before we have established a "time-out" in which if she is doing something we don't want (like jumping on Buster simply for walking across the room) we will correct her with a stern NO. If she does it again, she gets a 5-10 minute time-out in her crate away from the living room. She is use to being the only dog and we know that..... but it is just an exhausting transition for US too because she is being a stubborn ass about it. She has only eaten once in two days because she is use to her food setting out and she can eat it when I put it down or an hour later if she chooses....but now, with the new dog I can't leave Ginger's food out or he will eat his and hers so we have established an "eat in your cage" rule. The little one could give two shits less about this as he loves food....Ginger however does not like this new arrangement and refuses to eat like normal. Oh well...she won't let herself stave, if she is hungry enough....she will figure it out. I think the biggest thing for Ginger right now is that we normally don't make her sleep in her crate....she has her pillow bed or will simply choose to sleep on the couch, and now with two dogs (until they get used to this living together thing) both are in their crates at night AND when we leave (which again is different from what Ginger is used to).

I DO feel bad because things have changed so much for my first baby girl (however, this may be OUR fault to begin with because let's face it...she was treated like a child, not a dog-luckily she is young enough were this can change), but we honestly don't know how to make this transition any easier (and she does enjoy the new playmate)....it is just going to take time. We still have alone play time with her, still give her praise/treats for doing good things, and we are diligent in making sure he doesn't steal her toys while she is playing with them. We take the toy back from him, give it back to her and then give him is own....it seems to work OK for now. We still make sure she is seen as the "first" dog....she is given food first, gets let out first......I really think he gets it, but for some reason Ginger feels the need to CONSTANTLY remind him. She will eventually figure out he is here to stay, and I think when he is fully recovered from surgery and gains a bit of weight he will be a better playmate for her. Plus, when the weather breaks we will start taking walks again AND both dogs will be attending an obedience class together.

So, those with two (or more) dogs...how did your dogs deal with the "new guy/girl"? How long did the "getting used to" phase last for your pre-existing dogs? Do you have any suggestions that we may not be doing that helped out?

Thanks!

P.S-I promise pictures are coming soon....maybe even pre-bath! I should take them and upload them now as we are still in our quiet moment, but I have go get ready for work and start the normal "potty,crate" leaving routine.

In true crazy, this cycle is a bust, infertile fashion....

Thomas and I adopted a new dog today. He is an 8 month old brindle and white American Terrier mix....we named him Buster. He and Ginger play like champs (which is the point because they wear each other out). Yeah, I'm crazy.....I will post a picture in about a week....after he is fattened up a little and has a bath (he was just neutered yesterday so no water immersion for about 7 days). He is quite adorable though, and we spent about an hour or two at the shelter seeing which dogs Ginger got along the best with and he was it.

The lady at the shelter said he would be around 50 lbs (which is what Ginger is) however he will be shorter because his legs aren't as long as hers. He already knows how to sit, but he still needs obedience training and we are going to get him in a class soon.

It is completely crazy we did this today, but it does have its benefits in the short and long run. =) Actually I remember saying when we got Ginger that if we weren't pregnant in a year we would give her a fur-sibling....so here we are!