Crappy Performance Cleans Up Nice!

Taking 2 dogs anywhere can be a catastrophe, but adding a 3 1/2 month old puppy, an hours drive, getting caught in rush hour traffic, and ending up in the wrong part of Saginaw can be down right scary!

We made it, just in the knick of time. I breathed a sigh of relief as we carried all the dogs, books, and set up equipment into the gymnasium. I thought nothing of it as the puppy, Little Miss BABY, sniffed her way around. I thought she was just checking the place out. YEAH RIGHT! What was I thinking??? Maybe that she had just went TINKLE on the lawn before we brought her in. Well, we should have waited just a little longer...

Because, before I could say a firm "NO!" she let it GO--that's right, all over the gym floor. And we had nearly 100 students that would be stampeding through the doors any minute.

THINK FAST! My brain raced and my head spun. I couldn't remember where I put the wipes.

Thankfully, one of the school volunteers, a really sweet lady, handed me some paper towel. I dove to the floor and thankfully was able to SCOOP THE POOP before the kids came trapsing in. Because as I always say, "the show must go on!"

Although the back to back presentations started out a little on the CRAPPY side, everything turned out great in the end! Baby and Snickers put on another fabulous trick performance, and the kids/teens learned how to stop bullying and abuse. To check out the full article online log onto http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-24/119340674782800.xml&coll=9

Just another day in the life of a Pet Lover :)

Potty Training Tips:

1# Take the puppy outside every 1-2 hours during the day-- And PRAISE them when they do their duty! "Good Girl" or whatever... but remember they're just puppies and accidents will happen--at least for the first couple of months. We also used a puppy pen and used puppy pads on the floor which she used most of the time. But really if you want the puppy to go outside, this just slows the process down. Once we took the pen and the pads away, she learned in just a week!

2# When Your Puppy Potties on the floor try saying "Ah Ah!" to distract them and take them outside promptly. If you don't find the mess or puddle until later, there's not much you can do but clean it up.


3# Make note of her "crappy" times (pups usually have some sort of schedule--they tend to dump at the same times every day)--however, as we learned through my little ordeal in the gym, all schedules are subject to change

4# Crate Train your puppy at night and when you go away to avoid accidents--puppies/dogs generally will hold it, as they don't want to lay in it. (We put Baby in a larger crate once and she did tinkle, so now we put her in a smaller crate--and no accidents since!)

The Wagging Winner!

I entered my two pups, Snickers & Baby, in a Pet Costume Contest. There were 3 judging's, small pooches (15-20 all together), large pooches (5), and then groups (10). In the small pooches category, Snickers, dressed in his Harley Jacket & cap won 1st, & Baby in her Little Princess outfit won 2nd!

Finally we're making some TRACKS in the right direction. We're proud parents today :) Let us PAWS for a nap.

Forgot to mention we were running around like frenzied parents all week trying to get all the stuff for their costumes. And the TIARA for Baby's head, well that was a 2-day ordeal. I have to thank my sister for all the hard work on that. I bought everything and watched real close. I guess I'm learning from my dog's--the watching real close that is. They are so good at just sitting there while we do all the work.

It's definitely a Dog's World.

She's Just A Baby

She's Just a Baby--all 6 pounds of her. But she has teeth like Jaws, an attitude like Chucky, and a mentality of a Rottweiler!

She looked so cute when we first saw her. Sad little puppy dog eyes. Weighing only 4 pounds she fit perfectly in one of my hands. And the way she kissed my face was enough for me to give my husband the answer he'd been waiting to hear for weeks, "Yes, we'll take her!"

What was not to like. For a Rat Terrier, Chihuahua, Min-Pin Mix, she was adorable. However, I'd never owned any of those breeds, and had no idea what I was getting into. DUH!

Her first night home she turned into psycho dog, started running around like the Tasmanian Devil and flipped out on my kids. I wasn't sure if I needed to call the Dog Whisperer, a priest, or an exorcist. I mean they have Pit Bulls put down for less.

But instead, being the PET LOVER that I am, I decided to work with her myself.

In just two months, we've been able to get her biting under control, for the most part. But she is a puppy, a teething one at that, who is born to bite. So we just had to retrain her brain...

• Instead of biting fingers--we tell her "kisses" and give her a bone to chew on
• Instead of biting our cell phone cords (she's now chewed through 2) we bought her, her own set of orange extension cords (NO JUST KIDDING--although the thought did cross our minds!)--but no seriously we give her a toy :)
• Instead of biting on my son's BRAND NEW SHAQ shoes--(you guessed it--we give her a toy!)
• Instead of chewing through my daughters new MP3 Player--(yes, we give the Little Princess a TOY!)
• Instead of chewing on the Coffee table (yep, we give her a toy!)

This dog has more toys than all 4 of my kids put together!

I'm starting to take up chewing on things myself, so I can get a NEW TOY!