I know you missed me soooooo much! I appreciate your longing and I missed you, too!
I come back with exciting stories. Ok, not really exciting, but a story. Well more of a "omg I can't believe that happened. Serves me right" type of story. Sometime Friday night, during the overnight while we were in bed, Elphie got out of her play pen. This isn't the first time it's happened and last time there wasn't much damage done at all so that's why I wasn't too upset over it. So after going through my normal Elphie & Me morning routine Saturday I started to play with her. I grabbed her bunny and went to sit on the couch to play tug-o-war with her when I felt something cold and wet. I moved the fleece blanket and what I found were two very big pee stains, one on each cushion. It probably happened hours before, too, so the pee had enough time to saturate the cushion. I wanted to kill her! Needless to say she spent the majority of the morning tied up on the porch. Luckily Hubby was able to yank the fabric off of the cushion and we threw it in the wash. He also sprayed down the foam of the cushion with some No-Go and Febreezed it to Kingdom Come to hopefully deter her from peeing there again. Both of my throw pillows and Hubby's hat were unfortunate casualties of the urinating assault, too. Luckily everything is machine washable. Or if it wasn't, I made it machine washable! We deduced that the way she was getting out was jumping on top of her crate and then over the play pen walls onto the couch, so Hubby fabricated a makeshift wall with some of his old climbing ropes and that seems to be working. Although Elphie is pretty smart so I wouldn't be surprised if she finds another way out soon. But let's hope that won't be the case.
Saturday night Hubby and I went to a birthday party where I had a good conversation with a vet. He heard my story, was understanding of our situation, and suggested we put in a doggy door. He explained that once we start to see the world from Elphie's perspective everything else will get easier. He told me that a couch cushion is like a pee pad - it's very absorbent. I told him about the potty box on our patio and he also suggested getting a kiddie pool and putting soil and sod in it. The grass will grow freely and the dog will be more drawn to living grass. It's an idea, but I honestly don't think our patio is big enough for something that extravagant, especially with our patio furniture and grill already there. The grass in our potty box isn't looking too good, but that could be because we're not taking care of it correctly. I think if I research on how to keep healthy grass it'll last longer and Elphie will be more drawn to using it. She's a snob and likes the fluffy stuff to do her business on. Today I was researching doggy doors, especially the automatic ones because we also don't want the cats getting out, and the one with the best reviews runs about $300 and I don't think that includes the remote collar. But like Bart the Veterinarian said, a one time charge of $300 is better than a monthly charge of $400 for a walker to come every day. It's definitely something to consider.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
We're Online!
That's right, folks, we're online...from my living room! I finally got my butt in gear and dug through my closet to find my laptop. Hubby helped give me a refresher course in how to use it (sad I know) so here we are! It's pretty exciting, which is pretty sad. It's times like these that I feel super old.
I had an epiphany yesterday morning. I was in my kitchen feeding my cats and I came across a laser pointer still in its package. I know how much my cats <3 this thing so I ripped it open and allowed them to indulge. Then I thought, "Hey! What a perfect way to get the cats and the dog to interact together!" A little bit later in the afternoon, after Elphie was done eating, I pulled out the laser pointer and stood in a corner where I had all of the animals in sight. I got all three enthralled and before I knew it I had Elphie burning off some of her puppy energy running around the living room chasing the red dot and I had Nessa burning off some calories running up and down the stairs chasing the red dot. I would like to shake the hand of the person who invented this thing. He/She probably had pets of his/her own. I'm glad it's evolved from an annoying toy of teenagers' in a movie theater to entertainment for your pets. This morning I even got Nessa nose-to-nose with Elphie. That's progress, right? I'm sure in another month or two they'll be sniffing at each other without hesitation. I hope at least.
I had an epiphany yesterday morning. I was in my kitchen feeding my cats and I came across a laser pointer still in its package. I know how much my cats <3 this thing so I ripped it open and allowed them to indulge. Then I thought, "Hey! What a perfect way to get the cats and the dog to interact together!" A little bit later in the afternoon, after Elphie was done eating, I pulled out the laser pointer and stood in a corner where I had all of the animals in sight. I got all three enthralled and before I knew it I had Elphie burning off some of her puppy energy running around the living room chasing the red dot and I had Nessa burning off some calories running up and down the stairs chasing the red dot. I would like to shake the hand of the person who invented this thing. He/She probably had pets of his/her own. I'm glad it's evolved from an annoying toy of teenagers' in a movie theater to entertainment for your pets. This morning I even got Nessa nose-to-nose with Elphie. That's progress, right? I'm sure in another month or two they'll be sniffing at each other without hesitation. I hope at least.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
:::sigh:::
I think four months in dog equals two years in human. I feel like Elphie is in her terrible twos. She's being a brat! And I also feel like the progress she's made in house training is moving backwards. I don't understand why this is so hard.
I have to admit that I'm feeling guilty, too. I feel guilty that she's home alone during the day while Hubby and I are at work. I know, logically, that dogs don't have the same emotions that humans do, but that doesn't really alleviate my guilt. I'm sure it doesn't help either that we're still trying to figure out the best place to keep her area and the best way to set it up. Right now we have her playpen and all of its accoutrement in the living room next to our couch. We put her there originally so she wouldn't feel lonely when we're home. But now Hubby is thinking we need to move her down to the kitchen. Because she's a dog, and a puppy no less, she smells and makes a mess. I don't necessarily have a problem with the act of making a mess, it's the smell that accompanies the mess that is getting a little much. We need to open our front door to air out the place on top of spraying three types of air freshener on a daily basis just to mask the smell. At least in the kitchen there's tile flooring so it'll be easier to clean up.
On top of ripping up the pee pads we put down every day, she's starting to eliminate in her crate again. I don't know what to do. Hubby thinks we're giving her too much space in her playpen but I think the problem is she doesn't have enough space in her playpen. Right now her crate is taking up the majority of the room. So what if we switch out her crate with a smaller bed - like the dog carrier - and still keep the pee pads and whatnot in her playpen. That way I feel she'll be more reluctant to go in her bed. I know all of them experts out there say crate training is the easiest and safest way to house train a dog, but honestly it just doesn't work for us. It would be different if I worked closer to home and could leave every day at lunch to let her out. Or if we had extra money to spend on a dog walker. It would even be ok if we combined the two (me or Hubby coming home thrice a week and the dog walker coming twice a week). But since Elphie is still a puppy and does need to go out more than once during the afternoon, this just doesn't seem feasible to us. Not yet at least. Maybe in a few months it could be an option, but right now we have to make due with what we're doing, and I need to be ok with that. Once I become ok with that and I get over the guilt I'll be able to truly enjoy her in my life. I just wish this was so much easier :(
I have to admit that I'm feeling guilty, too. I feel guilty that she's home alone during the day while Hubby and I are at work. I know, logically, that dogs don't have the same emotions that humans do, but that doesn't really alleviate my guilt. I'm sure it doesn't help either that we're still trying to figure out the best place to keep her area and the best way to set it up. Right now we have her playpen and all of its accoutrement in the living room next to our couch. We put her there originally so she wouldn't feel lonely when we're home. But now Hubby is thinking we need to move her down to the kitchen. Because she's a dog, and a puppy no less, she smells and makes a mess. I don't necessarily have a problem with the act of making a mess, it's the smell that accompanies the mess that is getting a little much. We need to open our front door to air out the place on top of spraying three types of air freshener on a daily basis just to mask the smell. At least in the kitchen there's tile flooring so it'll be easier to clean up.
On top of ripping up the pee pads we put down every day, she's starting to eliminate in her crate again. I don't know what to do. Hubby thinks we're giving her too much space in her playpen but I think the problem is she doesn't have enough space in her playpen. Right now her crate is taking up the majority of the room. So what if we switch out her crate with a smaller bed - like the dog carrier - and still keep the pee pads and whatnot in her playpen. That way I feel she'll be more reluctant to go in her bed. I know all of them experts out there say crate training is the easiest and safest way to house train a dog, but honestly it just doesn't work for us. It would be different if I worked closer to home and could leave every day at lunch to let her out. Or if we had extra money to spend on a dog walker. It would even be ok if we combined the two (me or Hubby coming home thrice a week and the dog walker coming twice a week). But since Elphie is still a puppy and does need to go out more than once during the afternoon, this just doesn't seem feasible to us. Not yet at least. Maybe in a few months it could be an option, but right now we have to make due with what we're doing, and I need to be ok with that. Once I become ok with that and I get over the guilt I'll be able to truly enjoy her in my life. I just wish this was so much easier :(
Monday, August 16, 2010
Kids
Since I talk about the kitties almost as much as Elphie, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of them. They are my kids, too, after all.
Meet Nessa. She's an Orange Tabby with a sweet personality but with an annoying habit of pooping on the floor.
This is Boq. I call him Boqthalameu J. That's totally not his real name, but when I'm really annoyed with him, I pretend that it is. He's sweet, too, but his habit is being annoying. All of the time. He's an orange Manx. He doesn't have a tail so we call him the tail-less wonder, amongst other things.
So these are our kids. Our kids for now at least. I'm sure soon enough we'll be adding with a real kid. I can't wait to really be up to my elbows in poop!
Meet Nessa. She's an Orange Tabby with a sweet personality but with an annoying habit of pooping on the floor.
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| Nessa Rose |
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| Boq J. |
Thursday, August 12, 2010
I command you to be cute!
Sorry for the break in updates. My parents were in town this weekend so I spent my time with them. I think my mom was more excited to meet Elphie than she was to see me. Sure she gave me a hug and kiss when she walked through the door, but then she made a beeline for the dog and gave her a treat. She didn’t give me a treat.
My mom was able to get Elphie to sit and shake within the 24 hours she visited. It was pretty amazing. She did go through training her own dog from a puppy so I’m sure that helped. I also credit it to the treats. She brought her own dog treats with her and Elphie went insane over them. Now Elphie sits and a raises her paw on her own. It’s pretty darn cute and I can’t do anything else but laugh. Now we’re working on “down” and “stay”. She’s pretty smart so I’m not too worried about it. Who needs training classes when you got a mom and a really smart puppy?!?! I’ve been working with her on the commands every day. She still has the attention span of a pea so we don’t do it too long. But she’s getting the hang of it! The whole “down” concept is a little uncomfortable for her…she just ends up rolling around. But at least she’s down!
The potty box was delivered on Friday afternoon. It’s pretty awesome. It’s a light weight wood box with a laminate floor and you unroll sod into it. I’m not sure if Elphie knows exactly what to do with it yet. She’s gone to the bathroom on it, yes, but she also lays in it and eats the grass, too. Yesterday morning I left her out on the patio as I showered and got ready for work in hopes that she would get used to the box. Hubby said she eventually went in it so that’s a relief. Less of a mess for him to come home to. Of course this morning I went out there to nothing. I guess we’re still within the learning curve. I just want her to like staying out there on her own and not use the patio as punishment. The way I see it is if she thinks outside is bad then she’ll be going inside and we don’t want that. It helps to hang out there with her, too. As long as she’s ignored for a little bit she’ll get to what she’s supposed to do – in theory.
It does get frustrating, though, when I want/need her to go and she doesn’t and then I have to take her out front to go instead. The other night I took her out front as a last ditch effort but unfortunately there was a mom and her two little kids hanging out front (I don’t know what it is, but everybody hangs out front of our complex!) so when they saw Elphie they immediately thought it was play time. On one hand it’s good that she’s being introduced to kids of all ages because it’ll get her used to being around kids, but on the other hand it’s not good when I need her to go to the bathroom before bed and the kids follow us up and down the sidewalk. I’ve tried telling my neighbors that Elphie’s out there for a reason, but they don’t fully understand nor care that I don’t want to talk to them. I’m just too nice. I should just say, “look lady on the phone with your annoying kids petting my dog, I don’t know you nor do I like you so I’m going to take my dog so she can s**t out here, preferably on your shoe, so she doesn’t s**t all over my floor instead. Kthanksbye.” Alas that’ll never happen…so I’ll just continue to grin and bear it.
My mom was able to get Elphie to sit and shake within the 24 hours she visited. It was pretty amazing. She did go through training her own dog from a puppy so I’m sure that helped. I also credit it to the treats. She brought her own dog treats with her and Elphie went insane over them. Now Elphie sits and a raises her paw on her own. It’s pretty darn cute and I can’t do anything else but laugh. Now we’re working on “down” and “stay”. She’s pretty smart so I’m not too worried about it. Who needs training classes when you got a mom and a really smart puppy?!?! I’ve been working with her on the commands every day. She still has the attention span of a pea so we don’t do it too long. But she’s getting the hang of it! The whole “down” concept is a little uncomfortable for her…she just ends up rolling around. But at least she’s down!
The potty box was delivered on Friday afternoon. It’s pretty awesome. It’s a light weight wood box with a laminate floor and you unroll sod into it. I’m not sure if Elphie knows exactly what to do with it yet. She’s gone to the bathroom on it, yes, but she also lays in it and eats the grass, too. Yesterday morning I left her out on the patio as I showered and got ready for work in hopes that she would get used to the box. Hubby said she eventually went in it so that’s a relief. Less of a mess for him to come home to. Of course this morning I went out there to nothing. I guess we’re still within the learning curve. I just want her to like staying out there on her own and not use the patio as punishment. The way I see it is if she thinks outside is bad then she’ll be going inside and we don’t want that. It helps to hang out there with her, too. As long as she’s ignored for a little bit she’ll get to what she’s supposed to do – in theory.
It does get frustrating, though, when I want/need her to go and she doesn’t and then I have to take her out front to go instead. The other night I took her out front as a last ditch effort but unfortunately there was a mom and her two little kids hanging out front (I don’t know what it is, but everybody hangs out front of our complex!) so when they saw Elphie they immediately thought it was play time. On one hand it’s good that she’s being introduced to kids of all ages because it’ll get her used to being around kids, but on the other hand it’s not good when I need her to go to the bathroom before bed and the kids follow us up and down the sidewalk. I’ve tried telling my neighbors that Elphie’s out there for a reason, but they don’t fully understand nor care that I don’t want to talk to them. I’m just too nice. I should just say, “look lady on the phone with your annoying kids petting my dog, I don’t know you nor do I like you so I’m going to take my dog so she can s**t out here, preferably on your shoe, so she doesn’t s**t all over my floor instead. Kthanksbye.” Alas that’ll never happen…so I’ll just continue to grin and bear it.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Away again, away again...jiggity jig.
Hubby and I are taking a little trip up north to Sacramento next weekend. His high school friends are holding an impromptu 10-year high school reunion (more like an 11-year) so he wanted to get in on the reminiscing action. It should be fun, considering we haven't seen his friends for two years, and I've been looking forward to getting out of the house, so I'm pretty excited.
This poses a problem, however - What to do with the dog? Going away for the weekend when you only have cats is completely different. For the most part cats are self-sufficient. As long as you put out enough food and water and don't close them off of their litter box, they'll never know you're gone. There was one week over the Christmas break, though, that we needed to hire a pet sitting company to check in on them every other day. It's a great company and they do everything from scooping litter, to hanging out with your furry buddies, to even bringing in the mail. They offer overnight services, too. Very convenient. But just with everything else, paying a business to come by and house sit can become expensive.
Here I am again - talking about money. But let's face it, money is a huge part of everything. It rules the way we live. I have nightmares on a nightly basis of being chased in the shape of a huge dollar sign ($) by huge dollar bills! This is how much it's on my mind. But just like anything, you have to find a way to manage money. And situations that call for money. So instead of calling the excellent pet sitting company, I decided to ask around and ended up finding a friend of a friend who is willing to house sit for the weekend. She'll take care of the animals and watch our house, all for a reasonable rate. I'm very pleased. The other alternative probably would've cost us double.
The moral of the story? Keep your options opened. And rely on the kindness of friends.
This poses a problem, however - What to do with the dog? Going away for the weekend when you only have cats is completely different. For the most part cats are self-sufficient. As long as you put out enough food and water and don't close them off of their litter box, they'll never know you're gone. There was one week over the Christmas break, though, that we needed to hire a pet sitting company to check in on them every other day. It's a great company and they do everything from scooping litter, to hanging out with your furry buddies, to even bringing in the mail. They offer overnight services, too. Very convenient. But just with everything else, paying a business to come by and house sit can become expensive.
Here I am again - talking about money. But let's face it, money is a huge part of everything. It rules the way we live. I have nightmares on a nightly basis of being chased in the shape of a huge dollar sign ($) by huge dollar bills! This is how much it's on my mind. But just like anything, you have to find a way to manage money. And situations that call for money. So instead of calling the excellent pet sitting company, I decided to ask around and ended up finding a friend of a friend who is willing to house sit for the weekend. She'll take care of the animals and watch our house, all for a reasonable rate. I'm very pleased. The other alternative probably would've cost us double.
The moral of the story? Keep your options opened. And rely on the kindness of friends.
Monday, August 2, 2010
I'm a slacker!
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| "Why haven't you posted, Mom? |
Having a puppy is expensive. I don't mean to be a scrooge or to b*tch about money, but I really didn't think I'd be waving the $$ goodbye on a daily basis. I find myself constantly hitting up the pet store or the pet aisle in various department stores for toys or treats or wee-wee pads or bed pillows for the dog. I know that's mostly my own fault, but honestly I just can't help myself. She's just too cute! Yesterday I had to make sure I picked up some wet cat food so the kitties would still feel loved. I think they appreciated it ;)
We're also doing a ton of laundry on a daily/weekly basis. It's amazing how quickly the living room has begun to stink like dog (a super cute dog, though). We have a few air fresheners scattered amongst the downstairs to try to help but they don't really do anything. The living room now smells of cinnamon, mid-morning breeze, berries, "fresh air", and dog. :::sigh::: Oh well. At least these multiple smells elicit many childhood memories! You know, childhood memories of picking berries in the fresh air mid-morning whilst holding cinnamon sticks and playing with your dog.
We ordered the puppy potty box previously mentioned in the "Hurdles" entry on July 26. Hopefully it'll be delivered on Friday. We'll still take her out for a walk in the morning and evening to allow her to sniff everything and give her exercise, but the potty box will be helpful for the quick "gotta go now, Mom" breaks. And maybe once that arrives we'll let her out in the middle of the night to help control the sleepy time "uh oh" incidents. Maybe. I aint making any promises. Mommies gotta get their beauty sleep, too!
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