GONE TO THE DOGS

I asked my husband what I should blog today and he told me - Dogs. So here I am talking about dogs.

The very first dog we owned was a mutt we called Mouchy. I was afraid of dogs and wanted to get used to them so my children wouldn't be afraid. Well this dog had run of the house for the first week. I would sit on the couch with my feet up - so afraid of this little mutt. Soon my fear turned to anger and I would chase that little mutt with a broom.

We really knew nothing about raising animals when we started. This dog would poop anywhere he wanted to in our house. We would continually "ask" him if he wanted to go out but we didn't get any kind of response. Being a pup he loved to chew on things. He chewed on anything and everything. Even chewed through a plugged in extension cord one time.

We went out for a few hours one evening and left the dog home. When we came home we were greeted with garbage spread all over the house. He had eaten some and then thrown up a lot. He got into the baby diapers and had them spread everywhere. It was a disaster and time for that dog to go to the human society.

It was quite a few years before we got another dog. This puppy was so cute and it was summer so we could have him outside a lot. We let him sleep inside in the evenings. This dog began to grow and grow and grow some more. He was part Samoa (sp??) and part Labrador. Much too big for our little house and much to big for my little daughter. We ended up giving him to a guy who wanted to mate him with a female Samoa.

Years past before we got any more dogs. Along the way we learned that you should always get a kennel/cage for your dogs. It is both for your sake and the dogs sake. They like having a place of their own to go to. Also, we learned that dogs usually do not make a mess in their own kennels/cages, as long as you let them outside first thing after letting them out of their kennel/cage. It is much easier to train them that way. As for training, it is never too early to start and some dogs love the time you spend with them.

We now own a Lowchen, (not sure how it is spelled) also known as a little lion dog. He is a very rare breed. My parents bought it, named him Boo Boo, kept him for awhile, and ended up giving him to my husband and I. He is a small to medium type dog with whitish fur. Sort of looks like a Bichon Freeze but cuter. He has been the best dog we have ever had and we've had quite a few.

He is a character though. This dog loves my husband. He will sit by the window waiting for him to come home every day. As soon as he sees his car turn in the driveway, the dog goes nuts. Up on the furniture, down on the floor, up and down, to the back door barking, back to the living room, back to the back door, barking all the time. Then, the first thing this dog does, is ask to go outside. He is so strange. He can go all day without ever needing to go outside. I will ask him but he just ignores me. He will wait for my husband to let him out. It is like he thinks that letting him out is my husband's job and no one elses. When my husband has a day off, the dog needs to go out several times a day. It is unbelievable.

One day my husband had to spend the night in the city as the roads were too bad to travel on. Well the dog kept waiting and watching. I kept trying to get the dog to go outside but he wouldn't hear of it. Finally about 15 mins to 10 at night, the dog agreed to go outside. I nearly had to force him to go.

Another strange thing this dog does is a type of chin up. If he wants to get up on a chair or the sofa, he has to practice it a number of times before he will actually jump. Sometimes he will do this up down thing about 20 times before finally getting up. Other times he will try it about 10 times and then move to a different location and start there. Lately he has been going over the arm of the chair in just one jump - like it is easier or something. We don't know why he does this. My parents said he did it ever since they first got him. If he doesn't think about it, he is fine and can clear it in one jump with no problems (like when excited that hubby is coming home)

He seems to be a very smart and obedient dog. He loves doing tricks for treats and will get very excited and go through his whole repertoire before you even get a chance to ask him. His favorite spot, when he is not laying in a sun beam somewhere, is sitting on my husbands right hand side, squished between the arm of the chair and my husbands hip.

Have a dog gone good day.