Catch Up - Dog Sitting!

Whew, we've been super busy, so there's a ton of catch-up to do! There's a million photos to post and words to type and stuff to do and-- well, we have a lot to cover. It's been a couple months and nothing's been posted (MOM. She really sucks at consistency...)

Anyway, here's what we've been up to the past couple of months! It might get split in a couple of posts, because there are a lot of photos and a lot of words... but mostly photos.

Remember how I said we'd be house-sitting after I returned from Florida? Well, we did, and it went so well! Diesel and Grem wrestled, chased, and nommed each other the whole time, and Madi was a perfect little lady. Grem stayed in the bathroom while I was at work, and the other two had free range of the house and yard (as usual.) 

I also bought Grem some tasty chicken necks and started him back on TOTW! Yay! Now he isn't stuck with crap food anymore. He's gotten over his dislike of raw and seems to really love crunching on bones now, which is great! If I had the money and resources, you can bet I'd be feeding him raw, but I just don't have that kind of cash (more on that later ;)

Diesel, a Great Dane/Labrador mix. Very handsome dog!

Grem and Diesel listening to something.

Madi, a gorgeous Dogue De Bordeaux. She's ten and has a heart murmur and occasional seizures, but is a very affectionate pooch who loves everyone.

"What's this?"

The three pups.

Big yawn!

Something must've smelled good, I guess!

The gang eyeballing my food...

Sleepy Diesel. 

i got up for a few minutes and when I came back, this had happened. (also, whoa, that middle cushion is a completely different color from the rest of the couch.)

"Oh, was this your spot?"

Mom also gave me some super tasty food!

Look at my perfect shape. be jealous.

More to come, guys!

AHHH!

Okay. So. Mom's dog-sitting over summer for a couple of weeks (and she said she's going to Florida... is that far? I hope not. I don't like it when she leaves) and she asked if she could bring me along. So on Saturday, we went up to meet the dogs! They're both really nice. One is a Dogue De Bordeaux (how do you even say that?! I'm just gonna say French Mastiff) who's ten years old named Madison. She's really nice and just acts like a total mama-dog.

But my favorite is Diesel! He's a huge five-year-old Great Dane/Lab mix who likes to wrestle, and man, he's fun! We wrestled in the house for like an hour... and then we got tired so we chewed on each other's faces instead. And then Madison decided that Diesel needed a bath, so she started licking him. 

There aren't any pictures because Mom's camera didn't work when we went over there. :( But we're gonna be staying there while we watch the house so that's okay!

Madi and Diesel's mom is Sarah and she's super cool, but her kid freaked me out... and her husband. The kid stared me down and it was really intimidating. Thankfully Sarah told him to knock it off. And then her husband was just big and scary-looking but after he sat down for a while, I calmed down. And then I licked his head. And ears. He's bald.

Diesel and Grem seriously acted like long-lost buddies. Hopefully, I can bring Grem over again sometime before I actually start the dog-sitting so he can romp around with Diesel some more and the dogs can get to know each other better. We intro'd everyone one at a time in the driveway first, then the yard, then moved to the house -- it was a slow process, but we wanted everyone to get off to a good start. 

Sarah was actually a chaperon for my high school choir trip and her kids are in chorus with me, so I know her quite well. She seems to be a mix of alpha-theory and treat training, and I cringe every time she says Madi is the "alpha", but over all, her dogs are treated very well. Both of them have problems, though! Diesel has a receding cyst on his hip, and Madi, oh man. She's a mess. She has hip dysplasia, a heart murmur, seizures when she gets too excited... she's a mess. She actually looks like she's in amazing health for a ten-year-old BYB Dogue de Bordeaux, though!

Pictures will be forthcoming, but until then, enjoy some pics of Grem at the park.

Yard Fun

OMD. (oh my dog, for those who aren't familiar.) I GOT A NEW TUG ROPE. Mom said I needed a new one, but I ACTUALLY GOT IT. YAY!

Grrr...

Oh hi there... just tuggin. Nom.

I just love my tug, okay.

Maybe I also roll in my tug.

He's just a huge derp. He really does love tug, though, and we needed a new rope badly. But, still. What a derp. 

After he derped with the rope, we did disc stuff.

And then we took a "selfie"... whatever that is. It sounds like a kind of fish.

Thanks for the dirt stains, bub.

Hey! I cleaned them off!

You're lucky you're cute. And, lastly... Chip spam. He's got the cutest face.

HEY!

Aside from you... of course...

Throwback Thursday + House Update

Duuuude! It's been crazy around here! OMG. But before I get into that, what day is it? It's Thursday! That means it's time for... THROWBACK.

So um... when I was really young, Mom, me, and Dog-Grandma lived in a trailer. Trailers are really small if you've never seen one before, but this one was wayyy small. It didn't help that there was crap everywhere, and I mean everywhere. But anyway. I did this thing where sometimes I would just chill on the bottom step by the door. I did it when I was really little, and then I started getting bigger, and finally it turned into... well... this.

Yeaahhh. That's Mom's foot, by the way. 

Thanks. So, on to actual updates... we have another dog in the house. Eek. As if I didn't have my hands full already! Between Chip, Moose, Bronson, and Grem, it's a wonder I haven't pulled out my hair yet. Gah.

Meet Daisy.

Daisy is a Maltese-Poodle mix somewhere between five and eight years old. Her ex-owner, Katie, is one of Shelley's best friends. Katie has had Daisy since she was a puppy, and used to take her for walks, etc. Daisy's missing her right eye because it got infected and had to be removed... and yet, after all that, Katie decided she didn't want her.

Katie mentioned that she might be rehoming Daisy about a month ago. Nobody paid it much attention, but then she brought it up again and, somehow, Daisy became one of Shelley's dogs. She's been here since Friday. 

What really gets me is that Katie doesn't seem to miss her at all. This isn't an "I gave the dog up because I had to" thing. This is an "I don't feel like putting in the effort" thing. Katie still comes over, and it's heartbreaking to watch Daisy jump up and whine and cry in excitement to see her while Katie barely pays her any notice. Daisy followed her outside earlier today and in handing her to me, Katie basically threw her into my arms and I nearly dropped the poor girl. 

She has absolutely no training beyond being house trained. She doesn't know a thing -- not even sit.

Wait, seriously? I've known that since I was a puppy.

Yeah, I know. Katie didn't put any effort in. Daisy also isn't food or toy or praise-motivated. Scrambled eggs seem to be the only thing she'll get excited about for now. 

And then, my own personal rant (feel free to tune it out):

There is absolutely no reason for us to take on another dog. As it stands, I'm the one doing 99% of the activities with the dogs, all of them, including the House Dogs who aren't even mine. I'm the one training, I'm the one walking them, I'm the one making sure they don't go batshit insane in the yard. The last thing I need is another dog to worry about!

That, and I know she won't get the care she deserves. She has some kind of skin problem, and will most likely need some sort of single-protein food since I suspect it's a food allergy. She needs to be groomed. Her teeth are atrocious. Her nails have to be cut. Nobody else is going to do anything about it, so guess who'll have to?

She'd be best off in a home with an older person or couple. She's a total cuddle-bug, a lapdog, and loves attention. She's snuggly and relatively low-maintenance, and as long as she's clipped, she has low grooming requirements. She's small, and she doesn't bark too much anymore. I really wish I could rehome her myself.

Throwback Thursday!

Sorry we've been MIA! Mom's been suuuper busy and since I don't have thumbs (or fingers...) I can't exactly type up the posts myself. But we should be getting back on track, now! 

Throwback Thursday is something I've wanted to start up, but never got a moment to do. While looking through my email last night, I stumbled across an old picture I didn't know I still had. I just have to share it.

That's my sissy, Top Pocket. We look nothing alike but really, she was my sister! She looks kinda irritated here but she loved me.

Pocket caught Parvo when she was a year old and sadly passed away. I'm lucky I didn't lose Grem, too; the only difference between them was that she had none of her shots, and Grem had already taken his first round of vaccines as a pup. I'm sure that's the only thing that saved him.

The two loved each other. Grem was the firstborn of the litter, and Pocket was the firstborn girl. Along with being Pug and Chow, I suspect Border Collie is in there. We both miss her terribly. If I had to guess, the duo's about ten months old here. 

I still had my nuts back then.

Oh hush. You don't miss them anyway.