Brave dog park run today

We rushed to the dog park right before it got dark hoping no one else would be there... Everyone else had the same idea!

We almost went into the empty small dog park but decided to see how they would be with the current dogs in the large area. *Our* dogs were the best behaved of course. They pretty much stuck to themselves chasing balls/Frisbees. No other dog was interested in running with them. Our only two incidents were when Rainy started bullying Sunshine and a shepard husky mix decided to join in and gang up on the shy one.  At one point I was straddling Sunshine and shoving the other dog away since he wouldn't leave her alone! Kept coming in to bite at her! After 4-5 verbal and physical corrections from he his owner got a clue. Stupid dog park people... Then a black lab came in and I told Chris "watch that dog! He's going to be an issue. I think he's going to mount the other dogs and it probably won't be Rainy since she will kick his ass"  20 minutes later the dog tried to mount Sunshine who let out the GSOD.

Other than that we had a pretty successful trip to the dog park. We left asap when we saw a dog totally out of control walking up form the parking lot. The owner tried to do a Caesar Milan touch move with his leg and the dog totally ignored him LOL Yup time to leave...

Both girls are exhausted!


Sunshine couldn't even make it all the way into the crate.



The new chewey backstrap from Cowtown went untouched


Earlier in the day Rainy got very brave

Hope Sunshine doesn't feel gassy...


Tonight for the supper the pups had
Rainy: 1lb of tripe, 3/4 lb ground chicken necks
Sunshine: 1/2 lb tripe, 1/2lb whole chicken necks

Nothing much to report

Life has been pretty normal here lately. We got our Xmas tree and both pups were bored with it after inhaling a few needles.

Here are a few pics of their new recent love of the couch




























]
Look at Sunshine's cute lil pink spot on her lip!



The pups waiting for the elevator to stop and open



Hope this works... Here is a video of How to Dremel a dogs nail


I've had some interest about the raw feeding lately so I'm going to try and post what the pups eat each day


Last night Rainy had; Some liver, ground chicken necks, tripe, left over spaghetti and meatballs plus a left over burger (it was clean the fridge out day) Sunshine had the same only whole chicken necks since she will happily chomp on them. :)

A Greyhound's Christmas Wish

Dear Santa to you I make my wish,
This could be my very last Christmas list.
No time to be frivolous, I must hurry you see,
I'm no longer the best, they no longer want me.

I've heard of places where there are soft beds,
Sofas and pillows to lay your head,
Plenty of food and toys for play,
People who hug you night and day.

I've heard of the warmth the hugs can bring,
And car rides to get you wonderful things,
Large spaces to roam when you feel the need,
A place they will love me for being just me.

My wish, Dear Santa, I clearly state,
My hope as I sit closed tight in this crate,
To ask for myself I know is not right,
But please bring a family to love me tonight.

Copyright (C) 1995 Robin Krautbauer

More Sucess!

We really do have the best people as friends! We finally have accepted that Sunshine will have to sleep in a crate for the next few years... So we had to move some heavy furniture around, get rid of some other stuff, etc. With Daddy's torn SLAPs he can't do much heavy lifting all by himself. So we requested help from a friend with muscles who has little to no interest in our furry menagerie. Sunshine even stayed in the bedroom on the bed while the stranger came in and moved furniture around! I pointed out that she was being such a brave girl and got "Oh is that the other one?" LOL It takes a special person to come move heavy stuff after working hard all day just so our unknown little puppy can sleep in her big crate and be comfy. She does love her big crate being there now!

After being so brave Tuesday night, Wednesday we decided to go visit Grandparents on Daddy's side. Sunshine was a superstar! No potty accidents and she didn't shake too much.  This is our first home visit with her so we weren't sure what to expect. Rainy started screeching when we turn onto their street and after getting lovings from everyone she laid on her bed and slept. I turned Sunshine loose while we ate dinner and she paced around watching everyone and eating the noodles/meatballs I was smuggling to her from the table. They have to have some bad manners right? Eventually Sunshine settled enough to take some noodles from Grandpa. She likes the Grandpas better they are quieter after being henpecked for 30+ years. Her first introduction to these people went really well. She even settled enough to lay down for about 5 minutes. And even gave Grandmom a few cute photo ops. We are going to try to get up there every other week.  They are always amazed how Rainy just gets there, flops, and sleeps. Sunshine even got along with the old, grumpy, blind, deaf, little fluffy white dog that they have.

When we went to leave Daddy wanted to see if Sunshine would pee since she kept drinking lots of water.  She peed.... after she rolled in FOX PEE!  Talk about a smelly car ride home.


Those Sham Wow's made good pillows


I like helping Mom with laundry "ah a fresh towel from the drier"


Finally settled at Grandparents after 2 hours of pacing, this is much too stressful

 
Drying off on the big bed after my 9pm fox pee bath!


Rainy, trying to figure out why the hell Sunshine is racing around like a crazed wet pup! Works better than a hair drier


OK I'm tired of running. Time to lick myself dry


Sorry for the bad pics! Hard to catch that pup on cell phone when she starts darting around!

Everything is falling into place

She hasn't eaten any remotes for 1-2 weeks now. She developed what we thought was Separation Anxiety last week. By the time Friday morning came around she tried to eat her way out of the crate. So then we left her uncrated so she wouldn't hurt herself, fully expecting to be at Home Depot this past weekend to fix damage. It's 3 days later of no crate and nothing is chewed on! Nothing is even moved around! Currently our Apt could be condemned with all the clutter. My project this week after work. There's zillions of fun non doggy allowed stuff for Sunshine to get into. Very tempting for a pup.

We were gone all day yesterday and my Dad said he could come watch the football game at our Apt so he could walk the pups at halftime. I don't trust Sunshine outside of the crate for longer than 6 hours for no accidents. She still gets crated during the night. Dad came over and Rainy did her usual "I never thought I would see you again" frenzy at the door. Sunshine barked at Grandpa, then started weaving back and forth. She wanted so badly to go say hello, but was so nervous. She settled for a quick sniff on his head while he was bent over bear hugging/wrestling Crazy Rainy. Sunshine stayed out in the living room while we were showing Grandpa how to work the tv, etc. Normally she would have already retreated to the bedroom safe place.

So we show him how/where to take them for a walk, tell him that if he sees any strangers within the Apt to turn around and just go the other way with Sunshine until she get to her safe distance then let her watch them. (I really must be such a PIA about my dogs ) Plus not to worry if Rainy refuses to pee since she will try to make him walk all over creation to find just the right spot. We gave milkbones and off we went.

When we got back we got report that Sunshine was the only one who peed on their potty walk. What a good super pupper! No potty accidents at all! Plus Sunshine had TWO crazy zoomie fits. One where she ran into the living room jumped on the couch, nipped at Grandpa, then jumped over the back of the sofa, grabbed a toy and ran back into the bedroom. I'm assuming she didn't make contact with her teeth, I was too shocked to ask about that. Plus when Grandpa left she ran up to him for a pet! My jaw felt it was stuck open last night!

She really is starting to become one of the family! I suppose she figures that family members don't stay in crates? Either that or the big bed is so much comfier! I forgot my cell phone this morning so had to go back in after I left. Sunshine was just laying on the big bed eating her milkbone, getting cookie crumbs all over my side. I'm not 100% happy with her being uncrated. I don't trust her not to bite the Apt people if they have to come in. She does bark at all guests but if she's not told by us that it's ok.... well you just never know! Oh well it's working out now!

Something strange is going on with Sunshine...

Yesterday morning she tried to eat her way out of the crate. Did a pretty good job on those metal bars. So we left her loose for the 2nd half of the day and she didn't get into anything. Then we left her loose today while we were gone for 3.5 hours and she didn't didn't get into anything, or have any potty accidents. Maybe she's just trying to tell us she's tired of that crate and finally ready to be a full member of the family? It's so exciting!

Tomorrow Chris and I will be gone all day, my Dad is going to come watch the football game down here so he can walk the pups during 1/2 time.  Hopefully they will behave for him and Sunshine won't be too freaked out. Out of all the 'strangers' in the world she knows him the best since we lived with him in the mountains for a week.  Meanwhile Rainy is practicing her pitiful looks to get Grandpa to feed her endless cookies.His own dogs are heathens so these pups always seem like angels!


Sunshine 1/2 Roaching last night while the pups and Mom were in bed


Sunshine's nighttime crate (The only one she still likes) Not many pups get a layer of memory foam in those crates.

Happy Pumpkin day!

Back to crating at night!

It's obvious Sunshine has not yet drawn the conclusion that the bedroom is a big crate since I was cleaning up more pee at 5am this morning.  Rainy is also being a PIA! Not sleeping through the night and whining to go on a potty walk at 2-4am.  I have a feeling it's because they haven't been getting any exercise. Bad puppy parents! Tonight I am taking the pups on a 2 mile walk while Chris stays home and sets up another crate for the bedroom again. I hate crating Sunshine at night since her moving around in there wakes us up. If we crate her in another room she cries and I can't really blame her for that! I wouldn't want to sleep alone either.  Such is life! Some day this dog will be potty trained! If Rainy starts whining tonight she is getting the squirt bottle. Mommy needs sleep.

Onto the cute pictures

For some reason I think they may be too tired to walk?


Sunshine stretched out like she's done this all her life


Getting up is hard!


Silly pic of Rainy


Even sillier one! :)


They sure do love the bed


We got a new memory foam topper for the mattress, and I think they like it! This was 2.5 hours past normal potty walk time and 2 hours past suppertime! No one even moved when Dad got home...

Sunshine... the master of the roller coaster!

That darn pup sure knows how to toy with our emotions! After eating 3 remotes (I swear every Verizon rep will know me soon) Sunshine then moves into good cute little cuddler mode. She took such good care of us while we were sick. Then I was all excited on Saturday because she walked up to the front door and whacked the handle with her nose. How much more clear can she get? So we race outside and pee like good pups. Then Sunday morning at 2:30 AM the little brat is peeing on her dogbed!!!!!!!! Of course not on the bed that I had wrapped in trashbags... I wake up yelling, Chris starts yelling at me since I'm yelling at 2am, we could have been a comedy act.

Sunday Rainy and I went in search of a new dogpark in PA. We found it but there is only a 4 ft fence which is not going to work for Miss Sunshine the leaper. Parents pups came to play which caused our first walk of shame ever! Their 2 dogs couldn't behave and started playing too roughly with some other pups which set their 3rd dog off since she took the play seriously. I was able to call Rainy over to me before anything happened, then I was able to grab Miss Belle (The fun police) meanwhile some lady is screaming "Oh God No" over and over again. Yeah lady like that is helping anything! LOL They weren't even fighting once I had a hold of Belle it was just a matter of lack of recall from the other 2 dogs who wanted to keep playing.

 After that we all decided to leave, 5 minutes after we got there. Yup everyone in the small dog park knew we were doing the walk of shame. It was not MY perfect pups fault! :)

 Makes me wonder how dogs see each other though. Belle (Parents insecure nervous alpha) will go after any strange dog who escalates the intensity of play. It's her way of protecting her pack. She never has done that to Rainy or Sunshine though... Which makes me wonder if she somehow knew they were family instead of some strange dog she was meeting? Definitely gives you stuff to ponder.

Our new problem is that Sunshine seems to have gotten used to us being sick and home fore the past 2 weeks (Chris was in bed the first week and me the second) When Chris came home on lunch today Sunshine had pooped/peed all over her crate! Hello Separation anxiety 101! I had hope we missed that with her since she has so many other issues. My solution instead of freaking out and worrying about it, is to go out to dinner tonight so she can have some more quality crate time. LOL See I'm even getting better!

Greyhounds have big teeth!

Always have to learn stuff the hard way, don't we?

We were warned before we brought Sunshine home that she has a thing for pillows, down feathered things, and remotes.  She hasn't shown any interest in chewing on any of these until Sunday. She destroyed a remote! The pups haven't been getting enough exercise with the weather and us all being sick, so we shrugged it off. Took them to the dog park on Monday night and ran them around until they were exhausted.

I usually only muzzle Rainy when they run since Rainy is the once that gets nippy with whoever she runs with.  Sunshine likes to grab the balls and run around with them so I leave her un muzzled. Sunshine got a bit over excited, jumped up, and bit my arm! Hard. I had to unlayer to make sure she didn't break skin. I just have a lovely bruise.  So no more being unmuzzled for her. Darn little puppy.

Fast forward to Wednesday... I went to take a shower and remote #2 was killed. So I called Verizon again and ordered 2 more remotes so we would have an extra an an hour later I went to pee and remote #3 was killed!! in less than 3 minutes! Quick little chomper. Then I was in bed with the laptop, Sunshine jumped up and I reached out to pet her. She grabbed the mouse and made a run for it. She needs to start chewing on acceptable things before I get the duct tape out. 

Good news is that I had to go to Concord pet today and I took both pups with me. Sunshine's first trip to a pet store since we got her and she coped better than I expected. There was shaking, tail to the belly, etc but no fear pottying! Progress is wonderful.

Perfect puppies!

You never really appriciate how well behaved your pups are until you have a crazy one in your home for a day.  These girls are so well behaved!  We are not crazy high energy dog people. Onto the pictures!

How did they both get into that crate?


Sunshine passed out on the bed



Then one day Sunshine decided to flop down ontop of Rainy
 

It didn't go over too well... Rainy snarled snapped, and eventually gave up falling asleep with her teeth showing!

Pretty pearly whites for a 5 yr old!


Of course as soon as I order $70 of PJ's for Miss Sunshine, she decides that she like to sleep right here

And she was there for the entire night, I had to pry her out for that morning walk.

Cuddling with Daddy later on that morning



 On Tuesday night went went for a 2.5 mile walk in the dark at the park. The most lights were burned out but we had my parent's pup with us. No one is going to mess with them! Sunshine got to wear a pretty blue coat since it was chilly out. Here she is in the elevator right after I let her get her head smashed by the closing door. How the hell did we become puppy parents again? Maybe we will someday get her comfy in the elevator...


 Sleepy pups after a long walk




This past weekend we had happy pups at the dog park


Today Daddy is home sick so the pups are making sure they keep that bed warm for him

Sunshine's 2nd appointment with Jackie Weaver

We had an animal communicator app today that was very interesting.

Sunshine started off by saying that she didn't think taking food out of our hands is stealing.  She does stand off a bit and not approach us until we have the treat down there for a bit.  But she also has stolen food out of our hands while we aren't paying attention! LOL little piggy... :)

Then she told Jackie, "I'm very different now and Rainy has helped me tons"  She is a 100% completely different dog! Crazy little red pup. Sunshine says she like walks now since she knows she coming back with us.

Then I asked about her fear of strangers, since this is the main reason for the appointment.  Sunshine says that strangers revert her back to a silly childlike behavior. I assume the shaking fearful behavior is what she is referring to. She will stay at the farthest part of her leash and just visibly shake. Sunshine then said "We're worth money you know." She doesn't want to be sold and sent back to the kennel.  We are supposed to tell her "You're retired & that's the way it's going to stay" whenever we see a stranger around.  Throughout the entire conversation Sunshine kept saying that she wanted to be told she wasn't worth any money.

Sunshine then said that Chris thought she was a girly type dog! She says that when she gets nervous he uses a sing song voice to help calm her and calls him her protector. How cute is that?

Then I asked about the elevator since Sunshine is scared in there.  She said that it's a lot like a kennel and the wobbly feeling is the most awful thing in the world.  I guess it's small cramped and echoy so it would be kennel-like.  I then explained that we live on the 5th floor and stairs.... well are horrible! So we are supposed to tell Sunshine "This is to save our legs so we can walk further, It's perfectly safe!" every time we are in the elevator. 

Then I asked about the Lobby since she gets very fearful there. Sunshine's response was "We don't have to use it right?"  I said that sometimes we need to get the mail so we do have to go there. "I don't need the mail" was the response! LOL little brat! She says that people come unexpectedly from all different directions there and it makes her nervous. So we won't try the lobby again for another 6 months or so. 

I then asked about the car sickness. She said that Rainy gets all excited about the car and takes everything in from outside. Sunshine just lays there like, "well I'm now in the car." Sunshine gets queasy when we stop moving and the car has the slight vibrations.  She asked if we could give her some rescue remedy to see if that helps her.  Says that she tries really really hard not to get sick in the car, but sometimes she can't help it. She says they always know where we are going since we tell them. Amazing what they understand isn't it?

I asked if she likes the dog park and she says sometimes she feels skittish there with so much going on, but likes going. 

I asked if she could be brave and go to Dewey next weekend. I explained there would be lots of greyhounds and people there and we would be going to show everyone what great family members they make so we can get more dogs homes.  Sunshine said that lots of people looking at her does worry her and she showed Jackie her cowering at the end of her leash.  I asked if she could maybe stay really close to us instead of cowering and the response was "Can we wait and go next year?"  So we will wait! We were only driving down for the day anyway.

Sunshine says she likes to pick up one toy shake it squeak it, then toss it aside and find another one. Almost like "Got that one! Next!"  Guess this explains the new decorating scheme we seem to have!

She said she never thought she would be this happy and will work on her bravery. She also said to tell Daddy that is he puts his shoes in the same place everyday he wouldn't have to walk around looking for them all the time! LOL That is too funny! I complain about him doing this all the time because I stub my toes on his big old shoes. 

The last thing she said was "I'm truly grateful for what you've done. You think it's an everyday thing, but it's very special and not many people would help me like this."

Aww.... we really do have the best pup!

Gotcha day activities

The puppies were so good today! I shuffled everyone into the car at 3am this morning for an hour drive out to Gap PA to meet a dog food distributor. I order from this guy every 3 month and fill the freezer with puppy yumminess. Chris wasn't thrilled about me going to meet him in the middle of the night, but I was going to take Rainy. Then I got to thinking... Why not take Sunshine too? It will be a bit cramped on the ride back, but we have to socialize her somehow.  Poor Sunshine was so bewildered when I made her get out of bed at that time, but she was a trooper. We even walked around at the rest stop that was our destination. Wasn't too many people around in the middle of the night, so it wasn't too stressful for her.  The best thing was... No car sickness!  Guess she was too sleepy to upchuck.

When we got back home it was still dark out and we all went back to bed. This is what I woke up to around 10am.


We all crashed! All three of us are terrible partiers.

After waking up and pottying (outside) both pups got a special Gotcha Day Celebration surprise.


Rainy loved her meaty beef neck


While Sunshine slept with hers

Sunshine's milestone today was that she actually let Daddy know that she had to pee! AND held it until they got outside! It sure is a special day.

I couldn't figure out what to feed for dinner that would be special and out of the ordinary since the pups are so spoiled anyways so I settled on


Green tripe, Venison, and Chicken necks.



Rainy enjoyed and had to get the good juices out first. Then she refused to eat the chicken necks, instead she redecorated the Apt with them... Brat!

Sunshine the good little piggy that she is inhaled everything.


Digesting after a huge dinner



Tomorrow we go play at the dog park bright and early! Maybe we can get some good pics if it's not raining out.    

Rainy's 1st Gotcha Day!

Saturday Oct 3rd is Rainy's 1 year Gotcha day! Doesn't feel like it's only been a year since the greyhounds have totally taken over our lives. Chris still claims it's a cult but he's content to be cultish. We can honestly describe Rainy as the perfect dog. Has impeccable manners most of the time, although that's changing as she's being corrupted by Sunshine. She's content to hang around home and relax, but it always up for a car ride and new adventure. Of course all our neighbors are put on this earth to pet her. She's never met a stranger!

This single pup has completely turned the vibe in our home around. I am happy to get home after work to have her greet me at the door. Life is much more relaxed and happy, and she's even helped mend some thing in our marriage. Can't understand why we went this long w/o a greyhound!

We worked through her seperation anxiety (with the much needed patience from our neighbors), her food allergies, taking a chunk of fur out of Frizzle, socialization with non greys, with some minor bumps and bruises along the way. We wouldn't trade that experience for the world and will continue to spoil this girl rotten for the rest of her life on earth!

From her very first night at home


To Meet & Greets


To meeting other local greyhound owners on organized walks



To sleeping in the grass



To playing hard enough at the picnic to get her first booboo


To hanging out in the pool



And even getting a new sister
 


Rainy does everything with class and reminds us all what the important things are in life! Thank You GEGR for brining this perfect pup into our lives!